


Dazzling Light

by formally_mallory



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:48:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 38,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25712344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/formally_mallory/pseuds/formally_mallory
Summary: A cafe boy falls for a small customer and their relationship will start to blossom into something more than just friends.
Relationships: Jeong Yunho/Kim Hongjoong
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

Yunho's pov

Thursday 6:30 a.m.

I wake up to my phone alarm going off and I fumble blindly for it. I eventually get it to shut off and look up at the ceiling. The warmth of my bed was keeping me from going out into the freezing cold of my room. The sun reflecting off of the snow and into my room making everything seem cozy when I knew stepping out of bed would make me freeze. Although winter's a beauty, it's also a curse. I attempt to throw my blankets off which leads to me getting tangled up and falling off the bed. I lay there for a moment in defeat and I forced myself up. I pull my sweatshirt sleeves over my hands and wrap my arms around myself. Goosebumps were already starting to form on me but I ignore it. I walk out into the living room and see Mingi sitting on the floor with his head on the table. He had books surrounding him and he looked to be asleep. His soft, messy hair was covering one of his tired eyes. He looked peaceful but I knew once he woke up he'd be back to the loud crackhead I love. I wonder how long he's been there for. I hope he didn't stay up too late. Should I wake him up and take him to his room? I decide not to so he wouldn't end up going back to studying. I walk into our kitchen and start to make myself a cup of coffee. While the coffee machine does it's work I make myself eggs and french toast. I sit down with my breakfast and watch the sun rise throughout the room and see all the colors flow around. The tan walls with the dark green plants made it so cozy. Mingi and I live together as roommates in an apartment. I've known Mingi since middle school when he first moved to our town. We're now both junior's in college as he's majoring to become a detective and I'm majoring in culinary arts. His classes don't start till noon while I have to wake up rather early to get to work at the café. My shift starts at 7:30 today but I wake up super early to take my time. I scroll through social media for a couple of minutes and finally get up to get ready. I tussled my hair a bit so it didn't look like a mess and brush my teeth. I throw on my work uniform which I don't hate, really, and put on my long coat. I carefully shut the door out of the apartment to not wake anyone. Normally I would walk to the café but it's too cold so I chose to drive.

An hour passes at work and it seems like it was going to be a slow day. I always work the front counter since I seem to have the most fun with it. What can I say I love this job. Although it doesn't pay the greatest it's still so nice. It's mostly always the same customers who come in and they all know me by now so no one really gets angry at me besides newcomers. As I'm thinking about what I'm going to do today someone jabs me in my side. I flinch and turn around to see who it was.

"Seonghwa, why!" I hold myself from screaming.

He does a small chuckle and proceeds to talk to me.

"I'm just messing with ya. They want to know if you or I want to go on break yet."

"You can go on ahead, I can wait a bit longer," I roll my eyes and smile.

"Great! Have fun!" Seonghwa said in joy and jumped over the counter.

Seonghwa is a senior sadly and he's worked here for about 3 years. I've worked here for 2 so we're pretty close. He says he'll continue working here till he finds job offers which I hope he's right, I really don't want to lose touch. 

I finish an order and after a couple of minutes someone walks in and catches my eye. The boy had hair a little bit longer than mine that had been dyed red but is now fading to a cute blush red. He was shorter than me by a lot and looked even smaller with his big fluffy jacket on. I couldn't tell what grade he was in but I could tell he was a college kid. He gives me a sweet smile and walks up to the counter.

"Hi!" The boy bounced.

"Hi there what can I get for ya?" I think I blushed.

"Can I get an iced vanilla latte and two blueberry muffins?" He asked patiently.

"Alright! Aaand who should I make this out to?" I asked for his name.

Yes, I make the coffee in front of them and yes, the desserts are right next to me. But I gotta be smooooth. Get that name ya know?

"Hongjoong." His face lit up.

I write his name on his cup and proceed to make it. Instead of going to the end of the counter he stays up front with me. Really? Right now? Out of all customers?

"Do you go to the college down the block?" He asks me.

"Huh? Oh uh yea! I'm a junior. What about you?" I panic.

"Yep, I'm a senior this year. It's weird to think I'm graduating next semester. To think I'm actually going to miss it here." 

"Yeah, it's a good school. I get what you mean." 

I finish his drink and grab him two muffins. I hate that I'm probably never going to run into him again seeing that I'm only just now meeting him. What am I thinking? I just met the guy; why am I freaking out? 

"I should start coming here more often. The last coffee shop I went to started getting too busy and loud," he smiled.

His smile is so nice, stop ittttt. I laugh it off in an attempt to act natural.

"Come by anytime! Enjoy!" I hand him his food.

"Um aren't you forgetting something?" He said holding his money up.

"OH! Oh right I apologize," I quickly grab the money and give him his change. "Sorry, again." 

"Don't sweat it! You seem sweet." He smiled and walked off.

I- he's kidding right? I think I heard that wrong. Right? I put my face in my hands and my elbows on the counter. I completely embarrassed myself. Why am I overreacting? He's just a customer looking for service. I hear the doors open from the bell and Seonghwa is back. I still feel butterflies in my stomach but I force it down.

"Already back? You normally take longer," I ask since normally he leaves work for his full break.

"Eh, I wasn't hungry yet so I drove around a bit and now I'm back," he replies and puts his apron on. "Besides I only have 5 minutes left of my break so I'm just gonna clock in." 

Instead of Seonghwa coming up front with me, another, much older, worker came up front. They were new so I didn't know them too well. 

I countdown the last seconds I have and clock out right at 11:30. On my way out I kicked the back of Seonghwa's knee and ran laughing. My first class today is at 11:45 so I quickly changed into a sweater I brought with me and ran to my car. My first class isn't too far from the café so I don't worry too much. 

I make it into class and I prepare myself for extreme boredom. I didn't realize I needed to take history last year so I'm taking it this year. I'm going into culinary arts, is it really necessary to go through this? Our professor starts the lecture and as we are taking notes, the boy from earlier comes across my mind. Hongjoong. Why can't I just go on about my life without thinking of him. He's a customer. That's all he was. So why can't he leave my head.

I only had 3 classes today so I got home around 4:00. As expected, right when I open the door I see Mingi screaming. 

"YUNHO!" he comes running to me, "What's up? That's great! Come look at this," he said dragging me without a moment to let me speak.

We go into his room and he pulls out a bulletin board. It had red strings connecting pictures of newspaper articles and pictures of gory injuries.

"What is this about?" I ask hoping it's not what I think it is. 

"Wha? What do you think it looks like?" He said looking a bit insulted. "If you look at the symptoms of all these people and animals it's all the same. Seizures, cold sweats, aggression, etcetera? This could mean grave danger!" He said bouncing.

I couldn't tell whether he was happy about his board or stressed that all of his pictures are actually real. 

"Yeah… I like the board, it looks really cool! What class is it for?" I ask, still observing it.

"Thank you! It's my own little project. But you have to listen to this!" He grabs his journal out.

"Side effects may include…"

Mingi starts to talk and I let him speak but I don't listen out of disbelief. I love hearing him geek out but this stuff isn’t my forte. Hongjoong crosses my mind again and I start to smile.

"...THIS COULD MEAN THE START OF THE APOCALYPSE!" He shouts in excitement and fear.

I look at him in confusion. He must be really sleep deprived.

"You didn't listen to any of that did you?" He said dropping the book.

"Nope." I laugh.

"You love my crime talk. What's on your mind- I'm sorry are you blushing?"

I come back to earth and look at Mingi.

"Mingi, I don't blush."

"OH MY GOD YOU LIKE SOMEONE-!" He shouts.

I cover his mouth so the whole neighborhood wouldn't hear.

"I don't like anyone Mingi. I just don't believe in 'zombie apocalypse's'," I put in quotations.

His mouth slowly moved into a huge grin and put a hand on his hip.

"You like someone," he whispered. 

I roll my eyes knowing I won't get out of an explanation.

"I don't like anyone. It's just someone came by the café and… yeaaaah," I stop and go into the kitchen to start preparing dinner. 

"Sooo… who's the lucky one? C'mon you never talk about your crushes." He said sitting and turning on a stool.

He knows I'm bisexual so it’s not like I’m scared to talk about it.. I came out sophomore year of high school and he's of course a huge supporter. 

"Because I don't get crushes!" I laugh.

"What about Jisoo or jinyou-" 

"Those were middle school and early high school crushes, give me a break!" 

He goes silent and he knows I always break in silences. A minute passes and I eventually break and cover my face of embarrassment. 

"I don't like him, he's just cute, and sweet, and I just wanna- AH!" I squeal and cover my mouth. "I do like him don't I?" I panic.

"Yup." Mingi smiles in victory. 

"No. We just met today and we hardly even talked. I can't like him!"

"Oh the cruel world of love. I'm sorry Yunho, you're back in the hell of a trip called crushes." Mingi through his arm out.

He proceeds to ask for "all the deets my bro" and I give him everything as I'm making us some old fashioned ramen and he starts to freak out.

"IMMA SET Y'ALL UP" Mingi slammed his hands down on the counter.

"Mingi no! I'll get over it like all my other crushes."

He laughs and smirks.

"That's what they all say." And he snatches one of the bowls of ramen.

I sit down with him and we talk to each other about our previous, embarrassing crushes.

Soon enough after studying together it's 11:00 p.m. and I sit up to head in for the night. 

"Don't stay up to late Mingi, alright?" I ask him.

"Will do," he takes his hand out and salutes. 

I throw myself onto my bed and proceed to get excited for tomorrow. Was he telling the truth about coming back?


	2. Chapter 2

Friday 6:30 a.m. 

I sit up immediately and turn off my alarm clock. I jump out of bed and start making breakfast. Since I'm already energized I figured I didn't need a coffee. I sit down with my food and start to shove it down my throat. What am I doing? Choking down my food isn't going to speed Hongjoong up. Why am I even rushing? I'm trying to get over this crush. I force myself to slow down and when I look out the kitchen opening leading into the living room I see Mingi's door is open. Not only that but he's awake. 

"Mingi? I hope my eyes are deceiving me and you are actually sleeping. Cause who would stay up all night when their best friend told them to sleep that’s crazy?" I smile in anger. He looks at me with guilt and he slowly starts to close his door. I sit up and push it open.

"I told you to go to bed at a decent hour!" 

"I- look you know I have a bad sleep schedule!" Mingi said in shame.

"Please tell me you weren't up working on your personal project," I asked, scared to know the answer.

"Nooooo-yes. I really think I'm getting somewhere-"

"The only zombie I can see is you if you don't sleep. Please get some rest before classes," I ask in concern.

"Okay… I'm sorry for worrying you. I just can't help it, I love what I do!" 

"I know you do. It's Friday so at least get today over with and you can spend as much time as you like on your theories."

As soon as I say that he flops onto his bed and I laugh. I turn off his light and close his door. I head back to my room after eating. I notice myself getting ready a bit too fast again and I stop myself.

"Yunho, get over yourself. Just act normal and go to work like any other day," I tell myself closing my eyes.

I plug in my earbuds and turn on some lo-fi. I proceed to make my bed and water some of my plants before heading out. 

I walk in and see Seonghwa working the front counter.

He gives me a "What's up?" nod and I proceed to clock in.

I take the second cash register up in the front and Seonghwa starts talking.

"Are you going to the tree lighting in 2 weeks?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I forgot we did that. I love seeing the lights up around campus. Are you?" 

"Maybe. Some of my friends from my city are coming over around that time so I may take them."

"You have friends?" I tease him.

He rolls his eyes and throws a cherry at me.

"Aye!" 

Before I could do anything someone walks into the café and he smirks at his victory.

After a while, Seonghwa went to work drive-thru and I was left up front. As the clock is ticking, I wait for the hour to strike that Hongjoong came in. Minutes pass the last time he came in and I begin to laugh at myself. Did I really think he would come back? I'm really losing it. I look down at the counter that my hands were on and sit there for a moment. Eventually, another customer walks in and when I look up its Hongjoong. I couldn't stop myself from having a huge smile on my face. 

"I told you I'd come back didn't I?" He smiles. "I'll take the same as yesterday, and iced vanilla latte a-"

"Two blueberry muffins." I interrupt him and I start working on his drink.

"How are you feeling about the weather?" He asks me, not questioning how I remembered his order. 

"Oh, I love winter. I still hate the cold but it's so pretty when it snows." I smile.

"Exactly! I can't wait for them to put the lights up," he said in awe.

He likes the lights. Will he go to the tree lighting? Could we actually have a conversation longer than 3 minutes?

"This may sound weird but what days do you work?" He asks me.

I freeze and my heart skips a beat. He's wanting to know my work schedule? Is he going to come in more?

"Every day besides Monday's. They won't let me work more than 6 days.” I reply.

“Good to know. Looks like you have a new daily customer,” he smiles and hands me his money

“I’m glad I could be of service,” I try to act calm.

“See you around,” he glances at my name tag and smiles, “Yunho.”

He turns around and walks out. I could feel my face warming up and I tried to act calm. Seonghwa comes up to my side and looks out the door.

“Do you know him?” he asks, still not looking.

“Not really, he just started coming in yesterday. Why?” I quickly asked him in case he was suspicious.

“How rude, didn’t even say hello to me. He’s in my chem class and we normally end up being partners in labs.” He shakes his head. “He’s pretty chill once you get to know him.” 

I can’t tell whether I’m happy they know each other or not. I could get info on Hongjoong but I know if I show any signs of liking him then he’ll tell Hongjoong I like him. Why does he have to talk to me? Toying with my emotions like this? Why can’t he just order his food and not talk like most people? My face started burning again and I decided to distract myself with Seonghwa.

“Would you consider you two friends?” Wow, way to go. Great way to get him off your mind. 10/10.

“We’ve never talked outside of chemistry but he’s someone I would like to be friends with.” He shrugs.

He opens his mouth to speak again but a manager tells him to get back to drive-thru. As I continue to take orders for an hour or so, I see Mingi rush in. Mingi looked out of breath and in a rush.

“Really you can’t stay in bed for 3 hours?” I cross my arms.

“I have early classes today because my professor has a dumb wedding to be at! I’ve got 10 minutes till class starts. Can you please make me a coffee?”

“And why should I? Maybe this is a lesson to not stay up till 7 a.m. Also don’t we have coffee at home?” 

“I- I finished it last night… Please Yunho, I promise to go to sleep tonight.”

Before I could do anything. Seonghwa reaches his arm out with a coffee in his hand. Mingi quickly grabs it and takes a quick drink.

“Thanks, Seonghwa!” He said rushing out of the café.

“Why did you do that?” I turn around to look at him.

“He was in a rush. Besides I knew you would end up giving him one anyway. Why is he staying up so late? I mean yeah I get it he’s a night owl but he’s never up that late or...early.” All three of us hang out sometimes so he knows Mingi as well. 

“He’s been working on his own project and now he’s too deep into it to get him out.”

Seonghwa laughs and goes back to drive-thru. 

“Ya gotta love the kid.” He smiles.

“Yeah…” I smile to myself.

I quietly get back to work not having to talk to many people. I looked around the café when I wasn’t dealing with people. The range of windows around the front of the cafe to watch people walk. You watch couple’s flirt, friends laughing, and business workers rushing to work. You have your stressed mom’s shopping with their little kids and the people who have had a bad day. It’s weird to think everyone has their own story. They’re their own main character. Watching their story unravel whether good or bad. And yet looking out the window only gives you a small clip of what their life is like. That’s another reason why I love working up front. It’s not to get into people’s business, it’s just to see how life is going for others. Just like I’m curious on why the hell Mingi isn’t sleeping and Hongjoong is messing with my emotions! I wake up from my crisis and realized it was almost time for me to clock out.

I finish all my classes and when I was scared to see Mingi awake, I open the front door to silence. His classes almost always finish before me. I quietly open his door and see he was knocked out on his bed. I see notebooks and newspapers scattered on his floor and I shake my head. I’m happy for him having his own beliefs but he’s always talked about the zombie apocalypse since we first met and now that he’s in college he’s learning more and finding more “clues.” I close his door and go into my room. I pull out a chair and grab all my books for studying. Second semester is normally when we have all of our at-home cooking assignments but for now it’s just a lot of studying.   
As I’m studying I start to hear screaming outside. I jump and try to see what was happening. I open the window in front of me to get a better view. I then see it’s a new patient at the mental hospital down the road. My family was scared for me to live here but nothing has happened yet. The patients are normally calm except a few who try to escape at night. They normally get a house down before getting caught. This was, what I was guessing to be, a new patient or a transfer. It was a girl a bit older than me. I always felt bad for the younger folks to go into the hospitals. The girl was being held up by two hospital workers and she was kicking her legs trying to escape. I see multiple people looking out their windows and some were even from the hospital. They finally managed to get the girl inside and they closed the hospital doors. I shut my window and take a moment to think about what goes on in the hospital. 

After a bit more of studying, I leave my room to go make dinner. I was gonna make some nice italian spaghetti. I learned it a couple of classes ago and I’m gonna force Mingi to eat some. Speaking of him I pass by the living room and see him concentrated on his laptop. I could already see the dark circles forming. He spots me and takes out his earbuds.

“What’s up? And before you get mad at me for being awake, I’m only up so I can fall asleep tonight.” He started.

“I know. I’m just gonna make us some food. Whatcha workin on?” I said landing on top of him to see his computer.

“Bio-med. We are supposed to determine how this person died.” He pushed me off jokingly.

“Oh how cute!” I get up and walk over to the kitchen.

“Was our man’s there today?” Mingi jumped up and followed me.

“Maybe…” I tease him.

“YES! Oh you're in this ride now HAHA!” I tell him what happened and he starts to freak out.

“What if he likes you!?!” Mingi exclaims. I roll my eyes and leave him with no response. “I’m being serious! Why else would he be acting like that?” 

“Maybe it’s his personality. You're getting too excited for something that won’t last.”

He shakes his head at me and watches me cook. Once I finish he looks at it in amazement. He’s a big foodie so it’s not hard to impress him. He basically chokes it down and goes back to studying. I proceed to hang out in the living room with him and I look at my phone. I start to doze off a bit but I don’t leave.

“You don’t have to babysit me. Trust me I’m exhausted and I’m heading in once I finish this.”

“How do you stay up so late when I can hardly make it past 11?”

“What can I say it’s a gift,” He smiles. “Go dream about your man.”

“He’s not my man.” I argue, standing up.

“Yet. You can’t be single forever Yunho I’m setting you up with someone!” He called as I went into my room.


	3. Chapter 3

Saturday 9:03 a.m.

I was waiting for Hongjoong to come in until Seonghwa came up to me.

“You can go on break,” He pats me on the back so he could take front counter.

I stutter for a moment wanting to wait for Hongjoong. I look out the front door and I see no sign of him so I clock out with no arguments. As I’m walking out to sit in my car for my break I see Hongjoong with his food and drink. He sees me and smiles. I try to act natural but instead I trip over a tile and go falling to the ground. I look up to see Hongjoong in front of me offering me a hand up.

“Are you okay?” He attempts to hold in his laugh.

I take the offer of his tiny hand and he pulls me up. I knew he was small but he’s smaller without the counter in the way. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I rub the back of my head in embarrassment. 

Seonghwa meanwhile couldn’t help himself and started to die of laughter. He sees me looking at him and he chokes down laughing but still struggles to stop. I roll my eyes and Hongjoong starts to talk.

“Is he always like that? Here I thought he’d be calmer outside of class.”

“Nope, I still question how I’m younger than him,” I said, keeping eye contact with Seonghwa.

He looks at me insulted and proceeds to smile at the person who just walked in.

Both Hongjoong and I laugh and look at each other.

“Are you on a break?” He asks.

“Yeah, I have till 9:35.” 

“Great! Go get yourself a drink or some food if you normally eat at this time. I’ll be waiting.” He jumps and walks over to a far corner of the cafe. He sits down at a two person table and starts to drink his latte. Is this really happening? Am I actually going to talk to him? I go up to Seonghwa to make me a matcha latte.

“Can’t you make it? You do work here,” he rolls his eyes and starts to make my drink.

“I think you’ll live,” I said just as sarcastic and I give him my money as I take my drink.  
I go up to Hongjoong and take the seat in front of him. He was looking out the window smiling. Gosh, he’s so pretty. His fluffy hair almost fell over his sunglasses. He was wearing a long plaid coat with a white turtleneck and just looked surreal. He takes off his glasses and pushes them to the side. He continued to look outside but he finally said something.

“You said you liked winter right?” He pauses and looks at me. “Why?”

I look at him in confusion. Out of all the questions, I got this one?

“Um...It’s pretty that’s all.”

“Oh c’mon I’ve only talked to you twice but I know it’s more than that,” He smirked, wanting more. I think for a moment trying to figure out what he wants. Eventually, I take a deep breath and go into a more detailed answer.

“Well… Snow is already incredibly pretty and it’s really a sight to see all the lights up and reflecting on the snow. All sorts of colors are around during this time and even the darkest of nights have a little bit of light. It’s also a time when everyone gets together and shows all forms of love. Families and pets cozied up near a fireplace and being around one another. People playing outside and laughing. It’s all beautiful,” I caught myself smiling and realized I said way too much. “I’m sorry that was a bit much right?”

“Nope,” he giggles and leans back. “That’s what I wanted. You can’t have conversations with someone if you don’t commit to it. You also don’t know what you really have in common and what you don’t when you have half-answers.” 

He really has to be perfect, doesn’t he? I scream in my head for a moment and come back to reality. He takes a sip of his drink and I decide to ask him back.

“What about you? I remember you said you liked it as well.” He looks at me and does a little puff of air for a laugh.

“Mostly what you’ve already said. The lights are just so pretty. It’s a precious moment that I wish could last forever. You get with your friends and it feels like all is good and nothing could go wrong.” 

We both look out the window for a moment and I catch us both smiling. Is he enjoying this as much as I am? The moments of silence aren’t even awkward and it feels safe. It doesn’t even feel like we stop talking and we are just taking a moment of silence. We proceeded to talk about our studies for a bit and he mentioned what being a senior was like. Eventually, it was time for me to go back to work.

“It was nice meeting you. I’ll see you-”  
“Tomorrow,” he interrupted me and I smiled. “Oh! And one more thing.” He starts to pull a pen from out of his pocket and starts writing something on his muffin wrapper. “Take it as you will but I’m always free for a good conversation,” He said, handing me the wrapper and walking out.

I look back at him in confusion but when I open the wrapper I see it was a phone number. I- I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Did he actually give him his number? I looked to see if he was gone and he was so I proceeded to shake all my happiness out. Thankfully no one else was around to see me. I come back around the cafe and see Seonghwa still working the front.

“Are you coming to save me?” He smiled.

“Mmmmm nah I think I’ll take drive-through,” I play around.

He starts to pout and I laugh shoving him out of my place. After a few minutes we got really busy out of nowhere so my mind was occupied along with my thoughts. 

After my long 8 hour shift I clock out and start to head home. As I'm driving home I remember Hongjoong gave me his number. When should I contact him? Should I call or text? Would it be weird to message him tonight? I pull into the parking lot of the apartment and I put my head on the wheel for a moment. I sit up and force myself out of the car. I grab my keys to our apartment and drag myself in and onto the couch face first. 

"How's my working man doing?" I hear Mingi pop his head over the wall.

I scream into a pillow and bring my face up.

"You good there? You're never like this," Mingi asked sitting on the chair in front of me.

"He...he might have given me his number…" I try to hold back my smile.

Mingi's face slowly getting hit with realization and jumping up in victory.

"That's great! Oh my god! How did you do that?" He starts shaking me.

"We talked on my break and he just gave it to me after our talk," I said calmly.

"That's my man, look at you go!" He punched my arm.

"Do I contact him right away?" I ask for helpful advice.

"Hmm...what would you say?" He asked me.

"I don't know-" 

"Then don't contact him! Don't over think him giving you his number. If you have nothing to talk about then don't message him. Instead let's go out and celebrate!" He brought his arms up.

"What type of celebration do you have in mind?" I ask in fear.

He had that mischievous smile of his showing and he ran to his room. He came back with a flyer and it showed a glow in the dark party. Mingi's always been the party animal between the two of us and I was mostly there to laugh at him and drive him home once he's drunk.

"This is what you call celebration?" I raise an eyebrow.

"I know you aren't a huge fan of parties but it's the last one of this semester and it's glow in the dark!" His eyes brighten.

I roll my eyes knowing I'd let him win. 

"Fine-"

"YES! Get ready we need to leave the house by 9!" He jumped and ran to his room.

I look at my phone wondering if I should text Hongjoong at least to see if it's the right number. I then think that Mingi may be right. If he gets upset for not texting him I'll just say I was busy. I'm young and need to live a little. I stand up and rush to my room to get dressed. I open my dresser realizing I don't really have any party clothes. Ashamed of myself I go to Mingi's room to see if he has anything. I open his door to him blasting music and he turns around from looking at a few outfits. 

"I don't have anything to wear!" I scream over his music. 

Mingi being used to blaring music understood me and showed me his selection.

"I'm still deciding mine but I feel like… this one will go with you." He said grabbing a fluorescent yellow and black bomber jacket that seemed intentionally long to go down to the calves. He grabs a white graphic t-shirt and shows it to me. I nod in approval. I have some back jeans so I had that covered. I head back into my room and get dressed. At first I thought the jacket was going to be too much but it actually looked pretty cool. I threw on some black combat boots and I had my look complete. I tussled my hair a bit to get it fluffy and it worked pretty well. I put on just a bit of eyeshadow to pull the look together. I'm not one to wear makeup all the time but I did a simple smokey eye to pop out a bit. 

The clock hits 8:30 and I leave my room to see Mingi dressed up and looking amazing. How does someone constantly wearing dull flannels and blue jeans turn into someone who pulls off bright party wear. He had black leggings on with combat boots as well and had a neon pink box tank top. His hair was still the same just pulled back a bit more. He was also wearing a bit of make-up and he just managed to pull the whole outfit off. He looks at me and starts clapping.

"You look great! I really thought you were gonna wear a simple t-shirt again." He smiled.

"I don't understand where you get these outfits and still wear the same dark flannels everyday." I roll my eyes. He shrugs and grabs a water bottle out of the fridge.

"You know it's winter out please bring a jacket." I added.

"It's going to bed hot inside though…" he complained.

"I'm sure they have coat racks, don't worry about your outfit, you'll still look great." 

He pouts and grabs a black leather jacket. 

"Again where do these come from?" I laugh.

"I'm magic, what do you expect?" He shrugged. "Are you driving or are we taking a taxi?" 

Normally I'm the chauffeur after he gets drunk and all I had the night was water. What can I say, I gotta watch over him and make sure he doesn't over drink. 

"I'll drive, it's fine." I respond. 

"You're missing out Yunho." He smiled and sat down in front of me.

We talked for a bit till it turned 9 and we left the house and into the car. 

"GET THAT PRE-PARTY PLAYLIST UP!" Mingi screamed when he got in.

I laugh and turn on the radio to his favorite party station. He starts cheering and screaming lyrics. 

"Where is this party at?" I ask him for directions.

"The house almost off campus and looks like a mansion." Mingi described.

We've been there before. It's a really nice house that a bunch of rich kids are living in and they don't seem stuck up but they are so loud. The parties are good until almost everyone is breaking up or sick from drinking. We spent the rest of the car ride screaming lyrics to songs and it was probably the most fun I'd have the whole night I thought.


	4. Chapter 4

We made it to the house and there were lights everywhere. Luckily they have no close neighbors so they don't get noise complaints. I could see the party lights and everyone dancing in the living room. Mingi likes getting to parties a couple minutes after it starts so he doesn't have to deal with the awkward waiting stage. We get to the door and see one of the kids who owned the house standing out.

"Welcome! Here's a glow bracelet. and if you're interested there are glow paint jobs inside." He said, handing us two glow bracelets.

I felt bad I didn't know his name but I never talked to any of the house owners and there were like 9 of them. The house is really big; what can I say? We walk inside and I see Mingi's smile grow huge.

"Alright Mingi where to-" I start but see he's already gone and running to the dance floor. I snicker and walk over to the side of the living room. I wasn't about to run into chaos so I thought I'd stand there for a moment. I lost sight of Mingi and decided to look for anything interesting besides a sweaty dance room. Over near the kitchen they were handing out drinks and painting. The paint actually looked pretty cool but I was wearing Mingi's jacket and I didn't want to lose it. Fluorescent colors were everywhere, some people looked cool while others looked like they're from the 80's. Not in a good way. People started coming to the side I was standing on and I ran over to the empty side of the kitchen. I sit down on a stool and check my phone for a moment.

"Want a drink?" Another host was selling drinks.

"I'm good Minho, thanks." I respond. He was really the only one I knew who lived here as I always ran to the kitchen.

"I'm guessing Mingi is here?" He rolls his eyes at the thought of sobriety. "You guys could just get a taxi and you have a drink."

"I'm good, I'd like to remember the night."

He shrugs and goes to another person wanting a drink. I hear people shouting names and I get interested. Near the side of the party there was a dance circle with people having a solo dance inside. A majority of them looked like dance students and they were all talented. Our university is split up into both normal studies and the performing arts. All the host's were in the performing arts. Names were being thrown left and right along with cheers. Jenny, DK, Sara, and Hyunjin which was a host that you always found dancing. There was one person that they were calling a name but no one was going up. Yeosang. Everyone sounded supportive and eventually a soft looking student came up. I watched for one more minute to see what he could do since everyone was hyping for him to go up. He danced with so much energy I didn't expect it. I get distracted when I hear aggressive cheering.

"HE'S UNSTOPPABLE!" Someone screamed holding this guy's hand up in victory. Even though he was smaller the guy looked like he could crush me. Someone hands him an apple and I get confused for a moment till he ripped the apple open with his hands. I shiver in fear and look at my phone. Should I text Hongjoong? It would give me something to do.

After about half an hour, guys run up to the kitchen and I realize it's Mingi with a couple of other people. I couldn't have him see me doing nothing so I ran to another side of the house. I watch as he takes a shot of alcohol and he starts to get his body painted. Wait where did his jacket go? He can't go an hour at a party without losing his jacket. He chose a bright green color and it wasn’t a bad choice. He wasn’t that close to those people but for parties it’s like they’ve known each other for years. I look out to the dance floor and see Seonghwa dancing with some of his friends. He was in a short sleeve shirt so his glow in the dark paint could show. He had a spiral going down his arm with bright blue paint. He looked like he was already drunk so I didn't bother talking to him. I come to a decision and text Hongjoong. I had nothing better to do and I wasn't about to leave any time soon.

Yunho: _Hey it's Yunho. Is this Hongjoong?_

I stare clueless at my phone waiting for a response but eventually give up and put my phone away. I can't dance so it's really pointless for me to come to parties but the atmosphere is nice. Almost everyone is having fun and laughing. I see a few crying girls around but what's a party without drama.

A few minutes pass and I catch Hongjoong in the crowd of everyone. He looked happy and excited. No wonder he wasn't responding. I looked for Mingi if he was still in the kitchen and he was gone. I hope he didn't drink too much. A few drunk girls out of nowhere walk up to me and start talking.

"Hey cutie you should dance with us."

The girl was getting closer to me and started grabbing my hands.

"No thanks I'm not wanting to dance." I say kindly, putting her hands back.

The girl to her left starts looking aggressive and leans in.

"Why are you at a party then? Dance with my friend you whale."

I could smell the alcohol all around them and I attempted to slide through. The girl to the right blocks me in and I start to panic.

"I'm sorry but I don't want to dance." I try to steady my voice.

This has only happened to me once at a party and the last time Mingi had to pull me out but he was also sober and it was a smaller party. This place was packed where no one could stop them. I don't want to come off aggressive in case they are dangerous. I simply stood there not knowing what to do. The center girl tries grabbing my hands again and she starts leaning in. I turn to look at the side trying to find some escape.

"He said he didn't want to dance." I hear someone behind the girls.

They all turn towards him and laugh.

"Who are you to butt in?" The left girl asks.

"He's with me." He said and pushed through linking arms with me.

They all look at him angrily and walk away. I stop panicking to notice who it was. Hongjoong. He unlinks arms and stands in front of me.

"Are you okay?" He asks with concern.

"Yeah thank you. You didn't have to do that." I felt so embarrassed.

"No problem. I was about to sit down for a moment and when I saw you you didn't look too happy. Are you with anyone?"

"My roommate but he's out on the dance floor."

"You can hang out with me then."

"What! No no I can't. I already bothered you enough and you have your other friends."

"You didn't bother me at all. I know you didn't want to cause trouble but I had to do something. Just know that you're taller than most so just shove through even if that means pushing hard. Also it's a party they can make it without me, we aren't that close anyways just roommates I had to have." He smiles full heartedly.

I nod understanding and we walk over to the bar.

"If you don't mind me asking why did you come if you don't dance?"

"I thought maybe one day I will. It's also nice to get out for a bit."

"Can I get two water's?" Hongjoong asks Minho. "That's understandable. If you wanna try today then I'll gladly join. It's fun once you open up."

Minho hands us two water bottles and we thank him.

"Have you not drank?" I ask him.

"I had a shot walking in but I don't get drunk often. I'm too much of a morning person to ruin it." He laughs.

"My roommate can't go one party without getting drunk. That's the other reason I stay. He has fun though so I can’t stop him."

He nods in approval and we watch the party for a moment. I'm still embarrassed about earlier but he's so nice. How did I get so lucky to meet him?

We talked for two hours even though it felt like only a couple of minutes. I hope I wasn't wasting Hongjoong's time. It looked like he was having fun. Before we could continue talking I see Mingi stumble up to our table. He looked incredibly drunk and if he says anything to Hongjoong so help me I'm burning his mouth with coffee.

"Yunho I found you!" He giggled and sat down in front of us.

"Yes you did."

"Who's this?" He gasped like a 5 year old. "Yunho you have friends besides me?"

Hongjoong chokes on his water at his response and I take a deep breath.

"Yuh done dancing?" I ask him, avoiding his sarcastic remark.

"Nooo I could go all night!" He said as he was closing his eyes.

"I think that's our que to leave. I had fun tonight thank you." I stood up saying goodbye to Hongjoong.

"I had fun too, I'll see you tomorrow!" He winked.

I was too busy trying to get Mingi to stand up that I didn’t freak out at the wink. I grab Mingi's arm and throw it over my shoulders. This is normally how the parties ended where I have to help him out. We walked out and a few others were leaving too. I got Mingi into the car but I had paint all over my jacket from him. I didn't even try looking for his jacket he was wearing walking in. That thing was gone. Before I step into the car I see fire in the distance. It was a bonfire. I couldn't see the people too well. There were maybe 4 or 5 of them. They were all sitting down in chairs and laughing. Now that is a party I want to go to. I get into the car and start driving.

"Wait we're leaving already?" Mingi looked out the window.

"Why else would we be in the car?" I laughed.

“Wait! ...was that Hongjoong?”

“Yep.” I popped the ‘p’ sound.

“I knew you two would look good together.” Mingi mumbled and passed out.

I smile a bit and continue driving. The car ride was quiet so I thought to myself for a bit. Mingi’s head would bobble every turn and I would jump. We get back to the apartments and I try to wake him up. All he does is groan and I realized I would have to carry him in. I dragged him out of the car and he stumbled with me into the apartment. He reeked of sweat and alcohol but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I put him on his bed and he started mumbling. I couldn't understand what he was trying to say so I walked to my room to get into night clothes. I slip into a soft long sleeve and sweatpants. I was so tired I felt like I would fall asleep hitting the bed. I plugged my phone onto it's charger and when it lit up it showed Hongjoong texted me.

Hongjoong: _It's Hongjoong! Hope you got home safely. Wish your friend luck with his hangover lol_

I smile to myself and reply.

Yunho: _We're back home and he'll manage, he's pretty tough. good night and be safe!_

I put my phone onto my side table and landed onto my bed. I catch myself smiling ear to ear and turn to my side. I looked out my window to see the dark starry night sky. If only we weren’t so close to a city I could see all the stars. It’s okay though, I have my own stars.


	5. Chapter 5

Sunday 7:10 a.m.

As I’m eating breakfast I see something come out of our bathroom and before I started panicking I realized it was Mingi. He sits in front of me on one of the booth seats.

“You’re up early. How ya feeling?” I smile devilishly knowing the answer.

“I’m about to go back to bed but the paint was getting crusty so I had to take it off.” He leans on the booth holding his head.

“Fair. You’ll make it without me this morning right?”

“I’ve made it every other time.” He smiles and turns to his room.

9:15 a.m.

Seonghwa doesn’t work on Sunday’s so it was pretty boring the whole day. They had me doing a lot today like doing dishes, cleaning the lobby, drive-thru, and finally they put me on front line. I was put there right on time because I got to see one of my favorite customers. She was a sweet older lady that insisted we call her granny. She always came on Sunday’s and it was always the best part of the day.

“Good Morning! How’ve you been granny?” I asked excitedly.

“I’m doing just fine sweetie, how are you?” she said with a soft smile.

“I’m doing great. What can I get for you?”

“I’ll take my usual coffee and a glazed donut.”

I started fixing up her coffee and we talked a bit. Her kids and grandkids moved to America and all she has is her husband so we love talking with her.

“It’s almost Christmas, are you excited?”

“Of course! I can’t wait to visit my family.”

“You're still not seeing anyone? You’re such a sweet boy I don’t see how people aren't falling for you.” she teased.

She always tells me that with how sweet I am I’m basically “a magnet for a good relationship.”

“Maybe one day.” I laugh. “Are you and your husband doing anything for the holiday’s?”  
“Just staying home you know we can’t do much.”

I smiled and handed her her drink and donut.

“Have a good day sweetie.” She waved and walked out.

I waved back and when I looked to see who was next in line it was Hongjoong. I’m happy I didn’t mention a crush now. He leans on the counter and smiles.

“Hey sweetie.”

I contain myself from blushing with a sarcastic remark.

“Only she can call me that sorry.” I shake my head.

A little laugh escapes from him.

“I’m changing it up. I'll have an Americano and a chocolate cake pop.” I start to make his drink approving of his choice. “So your single?”

I freeze in my spot and swallow. “Maybe...”

“Why do you sound nervous? There are so many people single, hell I’m single.”

He’s single??? Him??? The Hongjoong? I shrug and start to top his drink.

“You just never know how people will respond. Some people act like it’s a sin to be single.”

“Whoever those people are are gonna end up single themself.” Hongjoong rolled his eyes.

We both laugh and I give him his food. He turns around and starts to walk out.

“Yunho have you had your break yet?” A manager asks.

Hongjoong stops walking and looks at me. I waited to have my break to see if it was possible to sit with him again. We both smile and I proudly tell my manager no. They tell me to clock out and I rush to put my stuff up. I saw Hongjoong was gone and I felt a bit empty. That just defined what a crush was. Before walking to my care in shame, I hear someone call my name from the side of the cafe. I turn around and see Hongjoong sitting where we sat last time. I feel a smile grow on my face and I head over to him.

“2 days in a row looks like I’m great at timing.” Hongjoong smiled softly.

“Sure.” I tease him.

“Hey! What happened to the customer always being right? You want me to give this place 1 star?” We both laugh.

“Did you stay at the party a long time?”

“Nah it got boring a couple of minutes after you left. The breakups were at peak level and half the crowd got tired and left.”

“Good thing I left then.” I freeze trying to think what that must’ve been like.

“At least it’s the last party of the year being as the tree lighting is two weeks away.”

I forgot that was happening. He said he likes lights near Christmas time... What if he goes and we run into each other again? It's not impossible. Statistics. It's all in the statistics.

"Y'know Yunho." He pauses for his pun to settle in. I shake my head in disgust and he laughs. "You said you're off tomorrow right? Maybe we could hang out before or after classes? It's totally up to you but I figured it's better than a 30 minute break or a loud party."

I- did he just- AHH! Okok calm down, it's just as friends. We have stuff in common so of course we'd hang out. Like bro's do. I keep calm and nod.

"Yeah! We could set up a time for tomorrow."

He smiles and nods back. We started talking about our schedules for tomorrow and we decided on 3:30 to 6 and go catch dinner at the pizza place on campus in the last hour. Soon enough my break was over and we had to part ways. We get up at the same time and he walks out as I clock back in.

3:57 p.m.

"YOUR FIRST DATE WITH HONGJOONG!" Mingi screamed as soon as I told him.

"It's not a date! Aren't I allowed to hang out with people?" I argue back.

He covers his mouth and his eyes formed crescents from his smile.

"I'll be your wingman!"

"Absolutely not! You'll freak him out and he'll think something is up."

"But something is up. When are you gonna tell him? You said he likes it when people give him the full answer. Just tell him."

I laugh and stop immediately. "No."

Mingi glares at me and heads to his room. Did I piss him off? He comes back dragging in his bulletin board with zombie theories. "Since you won't ask him out you must listen to my latest news."

I laugh and shake my head as I sit down at the booth chair in front of me. "Proceed."

His face brightens and starts talking. He knows I won't understand most of it but he likes to talk about his works. Only a few phrases would make sense as he didn't dumb down his vocabulary.

"...could be from poison fishermen are putting in the water causing fish and animals to get sick...or the rise of chemical production around the world…has to do with some chemical imbalance… You know how earlier I mentioned symptoms resulting in…"

At that point he started using too big of words and I gave up understanding. I highly doubt pollution is the cause of a "zombie apocalypse" and all these symptoms could just lead to other things. If any apocalypse is coming it's the A.I apocalypse. They're so high with tech now I wouldn't be surprised if I was being held hostage by one. He finally stops and takes a deep breath. Mingi always wants the honest truth with his projects so he doesn't fail later on.

"Well… I still don't think it's the apocalypse...but you're onto something with the similar symptoms thing."

He pouts and sits down in front of me. He looks back at his board and back at me nodding. "I'll get you to believe me. One day."

We both smile and give the board a moment of silence. I do love his optimism. When he starts working on something it usually is full of curiosity and pride. All of the all-nighters we’ve done together just to get to the bottom of a simple mystery. The times I had to stop him from following the police because knowing him he’d get caught. It was a good time to think about.

"C'mon get up. We're going to the store." I said standing up and grabbing my coat.

"Why do I have to go?" He whined.

"For you to get some life skills I won't always be around to shop and cook for you."

"What? You're saying we aren't living together in a happy little house where you cook for me?"

I roll my eyes and get my boots on. "Oh what a tragedy. A true story to be told for all ages." I put the back of my hand on my forehead.

Mingi starts to fake cry as he goes to his room to get dressed since the kid was still in night clothes from last night. He took 10 minutes to get fully ready and I shook my head. All that looked different was that he put on a flannel, a coat, and shoes. Did he really have to take that long? We headed out to the car and of course I drove as always. Before I turned out of the complex I looked out to the hospital and remembered the other day when that girl came in screaming. It was like a painful scream. Or fear. I decided to take the other way to the store as I still wasn't ready to pass by. Mingi looked a bit confused that I was taking a different way but he didn’t question it. It was a bit quiet at the start of the ride as Mingi was looking at his phone. Halfway through he went on a rant about how his professor gave him a C- on an assignment he thought he clearly passed. We finally get to the store and when Mingi thought he could get away with looking at his phone the whole time, I quickly start giving him stuff to find and he whines for a moment but gets to it. When I went into an isle he managed to scare me by jumping out of nowhere. He laughs and dumps all the stuff he found, (plus extra that pig). We buy all our food for the week and I let my wallet cry for a moment.

We get everything unbagged in our apartment and Mingi flopped his body onto the couch.

“Being an adult is hard…” he whines with his face in a pillow.

I let out a little laugh and start to put everything where it needs to go. Mingi starts working on some school work while I set up dinner. We had the TV playing in the background because Mingi likes it on when studying. I wasn’t paying attention to what was being said but I know Mingi was catching everything. I put our dinner in the oven to cook and sat down with Mingi in the living room. I didn’t know what I was looking at on the news. There were ambulance lights and people coming out of houses confused and scared. I look at Mingi and see he put all his work down. I quickly grab the remote and change the channel to the weather channel. Mingi looks at me betrayed.

“Yunho!”

“You weren’t paying attention! If that C- was so bad then work on that.” I said keeping the remote with me.

He pouts and gets back to work. I headed into my room to grab my phone and saw I got a text from Hongjoong.

Hongjoong: _We still on for tomorrow?”_

Yunho: _Y’know it_

I smile at my phone thinking about Hongjoong. My crush is just getting stronger by the minute and my little heart can’t take it. I’ve never hung out this much with one of my crushes before and it’s just...AH! I see another text come in.

Hongjoong: _See ya then ;)_

D-did he just send a wink emoji? A WINK? Does this man want to kill me? I couldn’t respond to that. Will he think I don’t care if I ignore him??? What do I dooo.

Yunho: _;)_

Wow. Real slick Yunho.


	6. Chapter 6

Monday 2:57 p.m.

Our professor let us out 3 minutes early and I started running like a mad man to my car. It’s bad enough I’m running but the fact that I have long legs I get to my car in no time. I’m sure people thought I was crazy but I didn’t care. Today was Hongjoong and I’s first time hanging out. I know I know I really lost myself to him but I can’t help it, it’s Hongjoong. I turn on my car and start to pull out. Don’t worry I stayed on the speed limit. I still had plenty of time so I got myself a slushie in a gas station to slow myself down so Hongjoong doesn’t think I’m insane. Though I’m also eating a slushie...in winter. Whatever, they’re good. I sit in my car for a moment and see two new text messages. The first was from Mingi.

Mingi: _good luck on ur date :b_

Yunho: _Not a date -_-_

Next was from Hongjoong himself.

Hongjoong: _Just got out of class I’ll see you soon_

Yunho: _Take your time I’m not there yet_

He didn’t seem triggered by my winky face back at him last time we texted so that was a plus. Maybe I did over exaggerate on that one… I connected my phone to a speaker and started listening to lo-fi. I finish half of my slushie and start driving again for the park. We decided for the first half of our hang out to be at the park. Yes it’s cold but it’s also the outdoors. I’m so happy this is actually happening. I’m already a pretty happy person but just thinking of Hongjoong still brightens me up. Is that creepy? Am I being weird? I don’t get crushes often so I don’t know if I’m being weird. Mingi seems like this with all of his crushes but that’s also Mingi. The one junior in college still assuming the zombie apocalypse. I finally arrive at the parking lot of the park and sit in my car till Hongjoong arrives. After a few minutes of waiting a nice white car, that puts my car to shame, parked right next to me. I didn’t dare look through the window to see what badass or happy family pops out. As I’m looking at my phone there’s a knock on my driver side window. I jump thinking I’m gonna get killed and see it’s Hongjoong. Really? He has the cool car? He has to be joking. I leave my car embarrassed of my own and of course he has that great greeting smile again.

“I didn’t keep you waiting too long did I?”

“What? No, I just got here a couple minutes ago.”

“He doesn’t seem phased by my beat up, used car. Perfect.

“Shall we start walking?” He gestures both hands out to the path.  
“Yes we shall.” I smile and we both start to walk.

We asked each other how our day was as like any other greeting. The park has many little trails to go around. Some poking passed the playground or garden, others to a small forest. It wasn’t too cold today but It was enough to still have snow on the ground. We both had pretty thick coats on so we didn’t seem to phased by it. Hongjoong proceeds to throw Seonghwa under the bus and tells me about how Seonghwa knocked over a flask in science. We filled the cold winter air with laughter and chatter and it was nice. Like I’ve said before, it seems our conversations never really die off into any awkward silences. It was perfect. After a few minutes of walking we decide to sit down on a bench for a moment.

“You cold yet?” Hongjoong said, leaning back and looking up to the tree above us. There would be snowflakes to fall off the tree every now and then but nothing to cause an avalanche.

“No not really. I’ve got a good coat.” I said looking out to the trees in front of us.

“Good.” Hongjoong said and while I wasn’t looking he threw a snowball at the back of my head. I turn around in shock.

“Excuse me?” I said standing up. “Did you just declare war? With me?”

“I believe I did.” He said standing up looking at me straight in the eye.

I keep eye contact for a second and start grabbing snow from the ground. As soon as I do he starts running and before he could get far I hit him in the back with a snowball. He turns around and starts to grab snow. At this point we had found ourselves in a snowball fight. Hiding behind trees, collecting more snow, acting “natural” when people would pass by. It was all amazing. Hongjoong, when he goes to throw another snowball at me, slips and lands on his back in the snow. I get concerned for a moment until he starts laughing. He starts holding his stomach and cackling. I start laughing too and walk over to him. I hold my hand out to help him up and when he reaches for my hand he throws me into the snow as well. I landed face first and our laughs got louder. I sit up and we look at each other. The pieces of snowflakes on his red hair and his rosy cheeks. I didn’t want him to feel weird so I stand up and wipe the snow off my coat and legs.

“Draw?” I ask him.

“Draw.” He laughs and stands up.

We started to head back to our cars and I didn’t realize how cold I was till I got in. Hongjoong, after a couple minutes of warming up, started driving to the restaurant first. I followed behind him and thought to myself. This feels surreal. I can’t imagine someone like him wanting to actually hang out with me. I didn’t want to lose this feeling or him anytime soon. We pulled in and it looked like an old fashioned fast food place from a musical. We get inside and order our pizza. Supreme to be exact. I only suffice with the most chaotic pizza’s. Luckily Hongjoong agreed.

“So what made you start the snowball fight earlier? Just curious.” I ask, taking a sip of my water.

“I wanted to see how you’d react. I’ll admit it was a risky move on my part but you don’t seem like the type that will kill me if I do stuff like that.”

“Wh- How do you know? I could be a very angry person at heart and you wouldn’t even know.” He raised an eyebrow and snickered.

“My fault. Sorry to assume. Didn’t realize we had a cafe baddie on campus.”

“Yeah that’s right. Best watch out I may add extra creamer while you aren’t watching.”

“Oh god nO!” Hongjoong and I both laughed.

Our food arrived surprisingly fast and we questioned if the pizza was going to even be good. We accept whatever fate we get and we eat the pizza. It was actually really good. Wow, a place with good and fast service? A miracle. The snow was starting to melt off from the heat of the building and our clothes were almost completely damp. I would see Hongjoong shake every now and then from his clothes. His hair at the top was partially damp and some hairs tried getting in his eyes. I would offer him a coat but I was also just as bad as him.

“This is why we can’t have nice things. We couldn’t just take a walk and get food. Now you’re freezing.” I tell him in fake disappointment.

“Pfft. I’m not cold. This is refreshing!” He said trying to make his argument sound better. I roll my eyes as he takes another bite of his pizza.

“I’m going to the bathroom, I'll be back,” Hongjoong said standing up. “Don’t finish the pizza!” He called walking away.

I give him a thumbs up and go to take a sip of my drink. When I look in front of where I was sitting I see someone familiar looking at me a couple tables away. Song Mingi. He covers his face with a menu after being caught.

“Mingi!” I whispered for him.

He proceeded to ignore me and I stood up and walked over to him. I push the menu onto the table and I look him in the eye.

“What the heck are you doing here?”

“I- um… would you believe me if I said I didn’t know you were here and I wanted food-?” Mingi lifted his hands up in a shrug.

“Absolutely not,” I retorted. “How long have you been watching?”

“I’ve only been watching for half an hour.”

“Mingi we got here half an hour ago.”

“Hey at least I wasn’t at the park! It was too cold,” he mumbled the last part. “I haven’t been listening the whole time. I’ve been looking at my phone!”

I pinch the bridge of my nose from shock. Why am I still with this kid?

“Mingi go home.” I look back at him.

“Can I at least get my food?”

I laugh giving up with him. “Sure whatever just stop watching!” I whack the back of his head and walk back to my seat. We both start staring at each other and he eventually gives up on staying and grabs his pizza from the front counter. I smiled at him as he walked out. Hongjoong comes out right after Mingi left and sat down.

“I was scared you would have the whole pizza eaten when I came back, you tall people and your appetites.”

“Oh I just waited for you to come back and watch.” I said grabbing the rest of the pizza.

“Bit-” He proceeds to smack my hand and take a slice.

“Jeez…” I shook my hand laughing.

We continue to talk and eat the rest of the pizza. I would sometimes get paranoid and look if Mingi was watching from a distance. After looking for Mingi I realized Hongjoong had been looking at me.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” I ask in a panic.

Hongjoong laughs and shakes his head. “I just find it funny how you’re looking for him still.”

“Looking for who?” I ask hoping he didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Your friend. He was sitting near us a couple of minutes ago. What’s his name anyways? I feel like if I know you I should know him.”

I sigh in defeat. So he was caught. “I swear I told him to stay home. He just over exaggerates things when I hang out with people. His name is Mingi. He's in my grade studying to become a detective.”

“Well he needs to work on his hiding skills cause that was bad.” Hongjoong laughed.

“Yeaaah.” I sigh in embarrassment.

“It’s ok I found it quite humorous to be honest. You guys are close I get that.”

“Really? I was worried he’d scare you off.”

“Pfft sure he’s tall but he doesn’t scare me. He seems innocent.”

“You’re not wrong on that one.”

“When have I been wrong so far?” He raised his arms up in self praise.

I raised an eyebrow and took a sip of my drink. He looked at me insulted for not responding. After a little bit more talking, 6 finally hits. Hongjoong said he had one night class so as much as we wanted to talk more we had to part ways. We get back out into the now dark freezing cold. We both say our goodbye’s and I start to drive home. Is it possible to fall more in love with someone? I really thought today my brain would assume we’re meant to be friend’s and yet I’m still falling for him. He’s just so pretty and nice, why does he have to be both! I groan at his perfection and turn up my radio. As I’m driving back to the apartments I accidentally take the side of the road that passes by the hospital. Why am I still scared? It was just a patient but I’m still worried. I shake it off and just stay calm. You’re fine Yunho. I looked at the hospital and one of the curtains was open. As I look closer, I see it was a boy looking out the window. I couldn’t tell what age he was as it was too hard to see. He waved at me calmly. I wave back and continue driving home. I smile to myself about the patient and calm down a bit more about the place.

After basically cooking myself in the shower, I get into night clothes and land onto my bed. It was only 8 p.m. so I lay there for a moment and then go into studying. I caught myself checking my phone every few minutes for Hongjoong to text. Surely he’ll be out of class soon right? Gah to think we just hung out and I still want to talk to him. I toss my phone to one side of the room so I can’t look at it as easily and continue to study. Next time I checked the time it was almost midnight so I decided to go to bed. I pick up my phone from the ground and still no text from Hongjoong. I hope he’s okay. Should I text him? I shrug it off thinking I’ll just see him at the cafe tomorrow. I plug in my phone and go to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Tuesday 10:46 a.m.

I was forced to have my break and even waited to be the last one to go. Hongjoong was nowhere in sight. Did I do something wrong? Did he sleep in? Did he skip eating breakfast today? I put my face into my hands on the table and sit there for a moment. He’s not coming today is he? Should I text to see if he’s okay? I give in and pull out my phone to text him. I stare at my phone typing then deleting several times before actually sending something.

Yunho: _Hey u ok? Just thought id check in and see if your ok_

I wasn’t satisfied with my answer but it was the thought that counted. After several more minutes of my break and with no response, it was time for me to clock back in. I get back up the cash register alongside Seonghwa cleaning the counter.

“What’s with the long face?” Seonghwa said leaning on the counter still holding the wet rag.

I look up from the cash register and over to him. I can’t tell him what’s wrong, he'll laugh at me. Not to mention he doesn’t even know I- ya know…like Hongjoong. I raise my eyebrows and shake my head. “Nothing.”

He raised an eyebrow and turned around now leaning his back on the counter and crossing his arms. “Really? Nothing?” I did a single nod and he sighed. “Okay.”

After a few minutes of serving orders, Mingi walks in. “There’s my Yunhogizer!” He called with his hands up in the air.

“Not today he isn’t,” Seonghwa popped in. “He’s a little cranky,” he whispered to Mingi.

“I’m not cranky!” I laugh in disbelief.

Seonghwa jumped at my response. “Good luck with him,” he said, walking back to drive thru.

“Good thing I came to the rescue. What’s up bud?”

I reluctantly whisper what was wrong so Seonghwa wouldn’t hear. Mingi stood there and took in every word and gave me his full attention. I’m so lucky to have him. Both of us live pretty happy lives but when one of us is stressed or upset we always have each other's back. Even for dumb stuff like this. It goes silent for a moment as he thinks about how to respond.

“There’s no way he’s purposely ignoring you. Maybe he just hasn’t looked at his phone a lot since yesterday.”

“I don’t know… I’m just overthinking this aren’t I? I haven’t even known him for a week!” I say covering my face. “I’m a mess.”

I hear a little puff of air from Mingi like a laugh. “Yunho, it's called a crush for a reason. Just give him some time he’ll come back. Besides, like I said before I’m setting you two up so I’m not giving up now.”

I laugh at him. “Thanks Mingi.” He gives me a head nod in response. He stayed a couple more minutes with me to get my mind off of things but he eventually had to leave to get ready for class. I only had a couple minutes of my shift left so it was fine. After my shift ended I clocked out and checked my phone for any texts… Still nothing. I really hope he’s okay.

Wednesday 9:57 a.m.

I never heard back from Hongjoong. It's been almost two days and I'm starting to get worried. It was dark out when we left the diner; what if something happened to him? I'd rather him never want to see me again than him getting hurt. My stomach starts to feel uneasy thinking that something could've happened to him. Seonghwa could tell something was wrong with me and tried talking to me but I only gave him short answers. I hear the bell at the door ring and when I look up to help the customer I see it's Hongjoong. I immediately cover my face and give a small scream.

"You're okay thank God." I say uncovering my face.

"I'm so sorry my roommate has been sick and managed to get me sick as well. I didn't check my phone till this morning." Hongjoong said through his facemask.

"You didn't have to come today! You just worried me that something happened to you."

"Nahh I'm fine now, just a cold. And I'm strong, I'm not going anywhere!" He said in a hero stance.

"I'm glad. Now what would you like?"

I take his order and start working on his drink.

"So you were worried about me?" Hongjoong asked, leaning on the counter and smiling.

"It was dark out and it's been snowing of course I was worried!" I said a bit upset he'd even ask.

"Awe, how sweet," he pouted. "I'll make sure not to stress you out anymore." He sat up.

Is he being sarcastic? Or is he teasing? Either one is sending me to my grave. I roll my eyes trying to act like I wasn't phased. I sadly didn't have a break coming up and Hongjoong had early classes so after he paid he had to leave.

"You two are getting close," Seonghwa said, coming out of nowhere.

I jump and I start to panic. Seonghwa, although we are close, doesn't know I'm bisexual and I don't want him thinking anything. I'm sure he wouldn't care but it still feels weird for me to talk about it. How do I respond to that?

I shrug. "He didn't come in yesterday so I was just a bit confused."

"You feel better now?" Seonghwa asked, looking at me.

"Why did you assume that was the issue?"

"Why did you assume I thought that was the issue?" Seonghwa said, raising an eyebrow.

I hate how fast he is. "You have someone in drive-thru." I was saved by a customer. He walks away staring me down and helps the customer. There's no way he doesn't know. I'm being so obvious.

I clock into my break and see a text from Mingi.

Mingi: _anything from Hongjoong?_

Yunho: _he came in ~w~_

He managed to respond right away.

Mingi: _i told u everything would work out OWU_

I put my phone away and get into my car. I decided to leave the café for my break today. Where to? It may just be a joy ride. I warmed up my car and soon enough I was on the road. The streets were never too busy on campus. Most morning classes were in session too so there was hardly anyone out. It hasn't snowed since this Saturday so it was finally starting to melt. I pass by the Center of the college and see workers and students putting up the Christmas lights. They put lights and decorations all throughout campus but the biggest moment is when they cover the huge tree in front of the college president office with lights and ornaments. They chose different colors every year to always make it a surprise. It's kind of shocking how there's never a power out. It's a real ethereal feeling seeing everyone together and counting down for the lights to turn on. Mingi and I always go together. He's not into these kinds of things like I am but he still enjoys it. Mostly for the food trucks they have around the night of but hey it's something. I finally turn a corner to where I can no longer see the Center and realize I should probably start heading back. I drove back with no traffic issues but when I pulled into the café it was packed! We never have this many customers! I get out of the car and run through the door. It still manages to be quiet with how packed it was. I look and see Seonghwa and a girl working up front. Seonghwa spots me and gives me a pitiful "please help us" face. I would tease him and not clock in but I only had two minutes left so I put my apron back on and took over the girls spot who normally works in the back. After half an hour our café was finally empty again.

"What happened while I was gone?" I ask, cleaning up the mess we made in our rush.

"The coffee shop down the block is having trouble with one of their machine's so everyone came rushing over here I guess."

"Just another reason why our shop is superior." I smile.

We had a few more rushes before my shift was over and I had to leave them during one. I quickly get into my car so I wouldn't be run over by grumpy college kids. My classes don't start till 12:15 so I decided to grab lunch beforehand. I head into a sushi restaurant a mile or so away from the café. As I walk in I see Mingi ordering something. What are the odds of that? There were two other customers in front of me so I couldn't get his attention. He sits down at a table and somehow misses me. After a minute or so I was next and I got my food. I head over to Mingi and shake his chair to scare him. He almost chokes on his kimbap and looks at me in a panic. He slaps my arm as I sit down in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" Mingi said with his mouth full.

"I didn't eat on my break so here I am. Do you normally come here?"

"When I have time I like to come," He shrugged. "So what happened with Hongjoong? Did he tell you anything?"

"You don't have to know every conversation we have!" I acted annoyed and then proceeded to tell him.

"I wish I could heal that fast damn. I'm glad he's okay though I wanted my happy Yunho back."

I let out a little laugh and took a sip of my drink. Then I think about what Mingi said for a moment. Does Mingi think I'm only happy with Hongjoong now? Am I overreacting? Even if I am what if that's true? I haven't hung out with Mingi besides in the house since I met Hongjoong. I don't want to lose Mingi to a silly crush. My thoughts start to race to where I couldn't keep track.

"Hey Yunho you still there?" Mingi said snapping his fingers in my face.

"Y-yeah. Hey Mingi are you busy tomorrow?"

"Hm? Thursday's are my shortest days so I'll be done around 3:30 why?"

"I wanna hang out if you want to. We could hit the new barbecue restaurant downtown or something."

Mingi's eyes and smile starts to grow huge. "Really!?! I was wondering when we could hang out again. Of course I'm down!"

We both high five and continue to eat. Mingi's phone buzzes and we both look.

"I've gotta start heading to classes. See yuh later bro!" He calls as he walks out.

I soon after stand up and walk out. I warm up my car and set up the radio to start driving. I feel like my crush for Hongjoong has calmed down a bit. Do I still like him? Absolutely. But now I'm back to hanging out with Mingi. Gotta make time for both the crush and crackhead.

I finished all my classes being able to concentrate better now that Hongjoong is okay. I head home and start to study before preparing dinner. Mingi normally has a lot of classes on Wednesday's so he wouldn't be home till around 6 or 7. I decided to take a break from studying to check up on how Hongjoong's cold is going. We texted for a few minutes and before I got too distracted I went back to the books. The rest of the night was fairly boring involving a lot of studying to cover tomorrow. Mingi was also getting work done so our apartment was fairly quiet for once. Once I finished it was only 11 but I decided to sleep early to prepare myself for the chaos that will be held tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8

Thursday 4:15 p.m.

I finish my last class and start to drive home to pick up Mingi. Mingi doesn't bring his car to campus as he thinks it's too much to deal with. I got to the apartment to see he wasn't outside yet. When I go to start texting him someone slaps the roof of my car. I jump and see Mingi was looking through the passenger side window. I unlock the door and he swings in.

"You can't do that to someone!" I screamed.

"I couldn't help myself!" Mingi laughed. "You got everything?" 

"Yep. Let's roll out!" I call and start to drive off.

Our first stop was the new restaurant I mentioned earlier. The car ride was just as chaotic as always with Mingi dancing and singing one second and ranting the next. We made it to the restaurant and it thankfully wasn't that busy yet. The place was small but still a lot bigger than the café. We were taken to a table and chose what we wanted to eat. 

"How long do you think it'll take? The smell in here is too good to wait forever." Mingi whined.

"I knowwww. Just don't jinx us and we'll be fine." 

Mingi groans and slams his face on the table. He immediately sits up and gasps. "How's our boy doing today, you haven't said anything yet." 

"I figured I was boring yo-" 

"What? Yunho you never have crushes this is exciting!"

"Are you sure? Just before this all started we were talking about the latest video games coming out and now you're listening to a panicked bisexual 24/7."

"We can change topics when stuff happens and I'm having a blast. Of course I wanna know! Unless…you don't like him anymore." He said dramatically.

"I- I do…" I looked down smiling.

"Then spill them beans!"

Nothing much happened today besides him coming in and talking for a bit. Seonghwa came up and talked to Hongjoong as well so it was a lot calmer today than the normal bi panic things. Hongjoong was finally better from his cold so he had all his energy back. Once I finished Mingi just shrugged.

"Some days just blow by with no progress and that's okay. We have plenty of time to set you guys up." 

I smile and laugh at his determination. We eventually change topics as we talk about plans for winter break.

"My brother is still insisting I go with him on his business trip when I keep telling him no." Mingi complained.

His brother Minhyuk is a lawyer so I never normally run into him. I guess since they're both technically in law he wants Mingi to come along.

"It'd only be a week. Don't you want the opportunity?" 

"What's the point in going if he won't tell me any inside information? The only thing I would be able to do is go to a court hearing. I'd rather stay here and theorize."

I roll my eyes and snicker. Our food after about 45 minutes, arrived and right when they sat it down Mingi started eating. The food was really good and I could tell we would be going here more often. Mingi and I do a lot of stuff together even with different hobbies and tastes. He's the outgoing detective and I'm the calm café worker and we always find the other sides of each other. The perfect friendship duo. As I was eating he almost started choking which brought me back to reality. He managed to save himself and I laughed.

"So what have we learned?" 

"...not to choke down our food." Mingi said ashamed.

I laughed harder until he smacked me upside the head. We finished our food within the hour and Mingi wanted to get drinks but I stopped him. We got into the car but later found out I couldn't start it.

"You really need a new car," Ming laughed carefree.

"Are you kidding me? She's an icon, you're insane." I said just as I get it to start.

Mingi shakes his head and we head onto the road. Although we were going home we still had much more to the night left. We planned on watching a movie and competing in games. We stopped by a store so Mingi could pick up candy and I could rent the movie. Mingi begged we watched a zombie movie and I really should’ve said no for his sake to get over his project but I fell into his persuasive trap. I find the movie and start walking through the store to find Mingi. We already had snacks at home so I'm wondering what was taking him so long. I find the candy aisle and see Mingi talking to someone. He was reaching for something at the top and handed it to the other person. Mingi steps back and I see it was Hongjoong. Is this guy everywhere?

"Yunho!" Mingi saw me and waved.

If he said anything I'm moving to the farthest place possible and changing my name. Hongjoong smiled and waved as well. I walked over and Hongjoong looked amazed.

"Gosh you two are tall this is embarrassing." Hongjoong whined.

"Did Mingi have to reach something for you?" I held in my laugh as best I could.

"Shut up, I could've climbed, I just didn't want to get caught." 

I ended up laughing and Mingi held back his laugh best he could. Hongjoong punches me on the arm and I stop while Mingi starts. I glare at Mingi and he covers his mouth. It seemed like Hongjoong was going to say something till someone called him over.

“Yah Hongjoong did you get them?” I didn’t recognize the guy but I also only know two seniors.

“Yep be right there!” He looked over and then back to us. “Thank you Mingi you guys have a good night!” Hongjoong finished by running to catch up with his friend.

“So we finally meet,” Mingi smiled as soon as Hongjoong was gone.

“I mean you technically met him when you were drunk… and when you were spying on us-”

“Shhhh you know what I mean.” Mingi interrupted and started walking.

We check out our stuff and get back into the car.

“You didn’t say anything embarrassing did you?” I ask in fear.

“Nah you didn’t give me enough time to. He just recognized me and I told him what we were doing tonight. You two look so happy together I need you guys to get together before I lose it.” Mingi had a wide smile on his face.

“I’m telling you it’s not happening. I’m just happy that we’re friends.”

“IT’S FATE YUNHO! How would we be at the same store in the same aisle at the same time? I was meant to meet him and now that he knows me, the best friend, the chances of dating are higher.”

I roll my eyes and smile. “The possibilities aren’t that low. All you're going to do is end up getting my hopes up.”

“Or! You two will get together and you’ll be grateful that you had me around.”

We make it home with all the supplies and get ready for the movie. Mingi organized our snacks (and already ate some) while I cleaned up the living room for proper movie watching. Once we were all set, I put in the cd as Mingi turned off the lights and bolted towards the living room. I got into a chair while Mingi flopped onto the couch where he spends most of his day due to all nighters. I'm not that affected by horror but Mingi is normally scared by everything (besides zombies of course.) The movie wasn't so much horror and more action so I would only catch him jump a few times. 

"I'm shocked you're not taking notes," I ask during a calm part of the movie.

"Pft I'm insulted you would think that! I'll have you know my standards are a lot higher than this. This is obviously fake in our timeline."

"I'm sorry- our timeline?" I ask in concern.

"They had different starting side effects than what I'm theorizing on so I refuse to waste my precious time for notes. But I wouldn't be surprised if on some other world or timeline this would happen. It's still good though I'm intrigued." 

I give him a face of understanding and go back to the movie. We normally don't talk that much during movies unless it's really bad in which case we are required to do only the best narrating and commentary. Once the movie finished we made our final comments on it and we both agreed it was pretty good. Last thing on our agenda was gaming which we used to do all throughout high school and had to restrict ourselves going into college.

“Hold up imma get a drink, choose a game you wanna play,” Mingi said heading to the kitchen.

I decided to just choose a classic fighter game to get that good competition instead of the boring co-op mode that I know we would destroy everyone in. I see Mingi come back to the living room with a coffee.

“Mingi! It is 9:00 p.m. why do you have a coffee!”

“If I’m going to stay being the sleep deprived best friend I gotta have my nightly coffee.”

“Go drink water,” Mingi was about to say something but I stopped him. “Go. Drink. Water.”

Mingi reluctantly got up and replaced his coffee with water. “This isn’t fair,” Mingi would mumble.

We started our game and I would catch us screaming sometimes and forget that we had neighbors rooms away from us. We would take wins back and forth and at this rate we just finish with a tie. After three hours of non stop game play we lost count of wins and decided to quit for the night. It felt great to hang out with him today and I’m glad I came back to earth after falling for someone. I forgot how exhausting it was to have a crush. Mingi gets them so often that it doesn’t even affect his work or studies anymore. Mayhaps he’s just so used to working at insane hours that he doesn’t even get tired like a normal human anymore. I stop thinking about crushes when Hongjoong crosses my mind.

“Imma head in for the night. Still have to go to work,” I said standing up from the floor. 

“Sleep well gamer. I gotta get back to my theories.”

“Don’t stay up all night Mingi.”

“Nah I won’t you wore me out today and you won’t even let me have my nightly coffee,” Mingi pouted. I smile in my victory and enter my room.


	9. Chapter 9

Saturday 2:39 a.m.

I wake up in a panic to hear my phone ringing. I blindly grab my phone from my bedside table to see who it could be. My phone blinded me with how bright it is and saw it's almost 3 a.m. Who was calling me at this hour? I look at the name and see it was Hongjoong. I immediately sit up and answer the call. 

"Hey Hongjoong is everything okay?" I ask, still trying to wake up.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have called at this hour for such a stupid reason I just- I had to hear someone's voice." 

His voice was shaky. He sounded tired and scared.

"Hey no no it's okay I keep my phone on for a reason. What's going on?"

"I- you can laugh I just- I had a nightmare and you were the first person to come to mind to call. I think I'm fine though I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hongjoong don't hang up you sound horrible really I don't mind," I interrupted before he could hang up.

I was the first person he thought of? Gosh even at this hour he manages to hurt me.

"Okay...thank you. I'm not really close with my roommates and they aren't the types to listen to this crap."

"I understand. Do you wanna talk about it?"

"If you're willing to listen. I could always wait till i see you today...you know...at a decent hour."

"I wanna hear now. I'm not hanging up with you like this."

I pause for a moment thinking about my bold answer. Sure I've got my motherly instinct but I'm normally not that powerful.

"Okay…" Hongjoong took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't remember how the dream took such a dark turn but I was spending time at my family's house for the holidays. Everything was going fine then out of nowhere they didn't look like themself. To any other person they would've looked the same but there was just this terrifying aura around all of them that made them look wrong," he paused for a moment.

I decided not to ask any questions or try and solve the dream until he was finished.

"They were saying all of these twisted and disturbing comments and they just kept getting louder and louder. Even when I started running they were right behind me. My surroundings were dark red and when I tripped over something there was someone standing over me and I woke up just as they tried to kill me."

"Hongjoong I'm so sorry. Did you know the person standing over you?" 

"No...the face was too distorted." 

"Okay… if this is too deep of a question you're free to ignore it but do you have a good relationship with your family?" 

He went silent for a moment. I shouldn't have asked. Gosh I hope I didn't bother him.

"With my mom… not so much with everyone else. Let's just say in some cases we don't meet eye to eye," Hongjoong said quietly.

"I'm sorry Hongjoong. You don't have to say anymore." 

"This isn't the first time I had a dream like this yet it still never fails to wake me up everytime."

"I think anyone would be freaked out by something like that."

There was a moment of silence for a moment. I didn't know what to say. I'm normally good at comforting people but it was all so sudden. I just met Hongjoong a week ago I don't know how he likes being comforted, not to mention it's 3 a.m. Eventually I spoke up so Hongjoong didn't think I left him.

"What made you think of me just out of curiosity." 

I really can't make my crush more obvious in times like these.

"Normally I wait it out and I call no one but after meeting you there's something calm about you that I thought would work now." 

I couldn't help but smile. I'm helping him.

"I'm glad you finally spoke up. Holding in stuff like that can't be healthy. I'll gladly be your free dream journal."

Alright what the hell was that. I cover my face in embarrassment until I hear him slightly laugh.

"My own human dream journal wowie. Thank you," he quietly laughed again. "How was yours and Mingi's night? I saw you had a movie picked out and was curious."

I could tell he wanted to switch topics to try and forget now so I gladly got off the matter.

"It was fun! We usually hang out when we can and we finally had an opening. He chose the movie. Some apocalypse film that wasn't that bad."

We continued to talk for another hour and a half and realize the time.

"Gah you have work tomorrow I need to let you go. I'm so-"

"Don't apologize."

"Right," even though I couldn't see him, I could tell he was smiling. "Thank you Yunho. I'll see you in a few hours." 

"I'm glad to have been of service. Call me when you need anything okay?" 

"Aye aye Yunho!" 

We both slightly laugh before hanging up. I threw my back onto my bed and looked at the ceiling. He'd be the last person I would imagine to not have a good relationship with their family. Curiosity gets the best of me and I contemplate on what could be wrong. Hongjoong seems so kind and understanding what could make an issue? Whatever it is I'm glad he called me. Who knew I'd get a call from my crush at this hour and proceed to talk for almost two hours. Stupid work ruining my conversation. I didn't go to bed till around 1 due to school work so I could tell tomorrow at work was going to be hell. I get under my covers when I start to shake. Sure our place has a heating system but it's still a really cheap apartment complex. I catch myself tossing and turning for who knows how long until I manage to fall back asleep.

"Yunho you do work today right?" I hear Mingi from my door frame.

I lifted my face from my pillow and was completely bewildered. It took me a second to wake up and realize it was Saturday. I reach for my phone and saw it was 7:56. 

"SHI-" I screamed and proceeded to fall off my bed. 

"Your welcome," Mingi laughed and walked out. 

I quickly brushed my teeth and got into my uniform. They wouldn't let me come in looking like a wreck so I had to brush my hair to the best of my ability. I can't let Hongjoong think it was his fault for me getting to work late. I answered the call and I wasn't about to hang up. I burst out of my room almost tripping. I slip my shoes on and Mingi tosses me an apple.

"NO SKIPPING BREAKFAST!" He sounded like his own mom.

I shove the apple into my mouth and open the door.

"Ank yo ingi!" I call back almost gagging. 

I get into my car and start driving off without heating it up first. When I get to a stop light I look at my phone and see missed calls and texts from work and Seonghwa. I didn't have time to read Seonghwa's texts and voicemails so I just called in work. They were understanding given I never miss or skip work. I slow down my driving a bit knowing I wouldn't die. I park and when I get in I see Seonghwa shaking his head.

"Where the hell have you been."

"I had a lot of school work last night and I overslept," I said, coming around the counter.

Seonghwa went back to drive thru as I took his spot. The day felt incredibly long. Sure I had four and a half hours of sleep and a lot of college students normally sleep that much but I like my sleep. I felt spacey and at one point almost fell asleep. I couldn't drink coffee during my hours. Seonghwa always sneaks himself a drink and keeps it under the counter but I couldn't make myself do it. They said since I'd still be working seven hours I would get a break. I dream about my break thinking I could nap in my car. 

About two hours pass and Hongjoong comes walking in. I could feel my energy come back a bit and figured I could hide my exhaustion. He was wearing a red, fluffy coat that matched his hair and...face. W-was he blushing? No. No no I'm delusional. He just got out of the cold of course his face would have a bit of color to it. 

"Yunho! How's my culinary giant doing?" He teased and leaned on the counter.

"Same as always," I really hope I don't have eye bags. I didn't check this morning. "What about you? Sleep well after our call?" 

I had no cute names for him like the one he gave me. I mean I could definitely name several but those aren't bro nicknames.

"Yep! Thank you again seriously you didn't have to," he said sounding a little embarrassed.

"You call, I answer." 

I took his order and right when I finished it I was called for my break. I was really hoping for sleep but hey it's Hongjoong I can sleep another time. We met at the same table after I got myself a coffee. The strongest I could handle. I chugged the first of it and Hongjoong spoke up.

"I can't thank you enough really you shouldn't have stayed up that long," he nervously laughed.

"No need to thank me you'd probably do the same for me. And I got sleep, your fine."

"Yunho you look like hell you really think you could get away with that from a senior?" 

I look in shock with how blunt he was. I guess that was a risky move trying to get away with it.

"Hongjoong there's no need to feel sorry or thank me. Trust me when I say I'm glad you called and I'll happily do it again."

He looked up and smiled at me. His eyes were sparkling and his rosy cheeks were coming back from smiling. I felt my face get hot and we both looked down nervously laughing. We talked outside of what happened this morning and he seemed different today. Maybe it was because I was getting jittery from the caffeine or the dream threw off his rhythm for the day. It wasn't anything bad, it was good. He seemed to be more energetic and was looking at me more. He did ask for a large coffee so I'm probably spot on. Before I could say anything else my alarm goes off to clock back in. We said our goodbye and I could be seeing things but in my perifiels I could have sworn I saw him pout a bit. It's definitely been a strange day and it's not even noon. About A half hour back on my shift, Mingi walks in. I could tell exactly what he came in to do.

"So sleeping beauty, gonna tell me how in the world you being an early bird slept in?" 

"Why were you even awake?" I ask now curious given he normally wakes up at one or two on the weekends.

"I woke up and was hungry so I thought I'd eat and go back to bed. Now answer my question."

"I had a lot of homework and didn't go to sleep till really late, I thought I'd be fine." 

Mingi grabbed my apron and pulled me halfway over the counter to meet eye to eye. He looked me dead in the eye and I was scared for my life.

"So we're just gonna act like you were talking to your homework till 4 a.m. now?"

I gulp in panic and nod my head. He let go and patted my apron.

"Alright can I get my usual then?" Mingi asked, acting like nothing happened.

I stood there in shock for a moment and started making his frappe.

"SEONGHWA MY MAN!" Mingi high fives him as he comes up to my side.

"Hey you look like you got more than 3 hours of sleep!" 

"I know! I put my theories away for one night so I could hibernate and then go back to all nighters ya know?"

Seonghwa gave him a dad laugh and Mingi laughed with him. Those too sometimes got along too well and would give me a headache. Seriously Seonghwa's like the jock older brother who adores the youngest and they both tag team to bully the middle child, me. Sometimes tables do turn though where one of them is the target. Eventually Seonghwa got in yelled at to go back to drive thru.

"Oh I just remembered! Yunho I have new proof and theories to the apocalypse."

"Mingi I already never understand these theories. Do you really think coffee going through my system is really the wisest decision?" I said as my leg was shaking under the counter.

"Fair. When you're back to yourself I gotta tell you. See ya!" He screamed running out and almost bumping into a customer.

Like I said. It was going to be a weird day.


	10. Chapter 10

Saturday 6:25 p.m.

I woke up to my alarm this time and sat on my bed for a moment. I got in an hour and a half of extra sleep so surely I'd make it for the rest of the day. I sat up with a headache but decided to ignore it. When I come out I see Mingi's rolling corkboard sitting with him in the living room. He heard me come out and had an insane smile slapped on his face. I sigh and sit down in my chair.

"The floor is yours," I motion for him to start.

He excitedly gasps and jumps up.

"Alright alright alright. You know how earlier I mentioned people could be turning from poison in the water or rise in pollution? I still feel like those are apart of it but now I've had a break through."

He spun his board to show the other side almost completely filled. I wasn't going to make it out alive.

"Animal testing. Products and medicine has to be tested. I'm thinking if pollution doesn't get to us first this will definitely be their back up. Lemme explain."

I just started nodding, acting like I'm listening and understanding till he snapped in my face.

"HEY! You're not zoning out on this one I'm dumbing it down for you."

I was about to respond till he spoke over me.

"Some medications scientists have been looking over have failed in result harming or killing rats. They share symptoms from wild animals so something that took the medication may be escaped causing animals to turn first."

"Are they still moving after…'turning' other animals?"

"Not necessarily. They do twitch and show some signs of being alive, which you would've known before if you listened. But no, none have started moving normally."

"Right… so no apocalypse," I smother his theories once again.

"Yunho I swear something is going on and once I find enough proof we'll be in a gold mine!" He brought both hands in the air while I laughed at his plan.

"Sure keep dreaming bud," I stood up and went to the kitchen to start preparing dinner.

He follows me trying to convince me that he's right.

"Hey what do you want to eat tonight?" I said attempting to change the subject.

Mingi sighed. "Spicy ramen."

He sounded genuinely upset for a moment there.

"Mingi I'm not saying it can't happen or I don't believe it, I just feel like it's not coming as soon as you think."

"Hmmm...yeah I guess that's fair," he said, sounding a little better. "I still want spicy ramen though."

"Ok bud."

I'm happy he can dedicate himself to something but he's taking this so seriously I just hope he doesn't stress over something that will likely never happen. He walked back over to his board and started looking it over. He looked like he had a million thoughts racing. I couldn't tell what he could be thinking. This is why I stuck with cooking, I could ever think of such big ideas. I let him be and I continued to cook. I was a little insulted he didn't want me to make an actual meal but it's understandable having ramen night every now and again. Once I turned around to hand him his bowl he was already at the kitchen table to give me a heart attack. I set it down and just started shoveling scolding hot ramen into his mouth. I laugh as he intimately regrets his decision.

"So are you gonna admit you weren't talking to your homework last night anytime soon?"

I freeze with my bowl in hand. He really won't let me live.

"I didn't keep you up did I?"

"Nah I went to get a drink and heard muffled talking. I couldn't hear you from my room. Still reverting the question I see."

"Seong-"

"Try again," Mingi interrupted.

I knew I wasn't going to get away with lying, he knows me too well. I couldn't tell him the real reason though. Sure I'll tell Mingi everything with Hongjoong but I won't expose him.

"So maybe it was Hongjoong."

"YES! AHAHA yunjoong is sailing well I see."

"I'm sorry yu-yunjoong?"

"Of course. Did you really think you'd get away without me making a ship name?"

"No…" I say in shame.

"Alright that's all I wanted," Mingi said happily eating his noodles.

"Really? You're not gonna ask what happened?"

"Hmm… as curious as i am you seemed too willing to keep it a secret so I won't ask. Just did you make any progress?"

I sat there for a moment. Progress? I mean… I'm not expecting to date him, he's way out of my league let alone I don't even know if he likes guys. I guess we could still make progress in friendship though. I felt my stomach flip as I just friend zoned myself. I mean he did seem more open today so...maybe we are getting closer?

"Sure. We made progress."

Mingi gave me a satisfied nod and continued to eat. Progress. I catch myself smiling. We've made progress.

Sunday 9:15 a.m.

Same day. Same time. Granny had arrived.

"Granny!" I cheered as she walked in.

"Oh hello sweetie," she smiled brightly.

"Same as usual?"

She silently nodded so I started making her drink.

"This is the last time I'll see you till next year right? I hope you have a fun break."

"Oh wait this is my last Sunday isn't it? Gosh I can't leave you who's going to make your coffee as good as me?"

"It will be rough but I'll manage till you come back." She laughed.

She's so sweet I really do miss her during break mostly because so much could happen while I'm gone. I hope she stays safe.

"Ain't that the boy who came in last week?"

I look up from what I was doing and I see Hongjoong stepping out of his car.

"Yeah he's new here. Hard not to remember him with the bright hair."

"He looks like he's a sweetheart."

I catch myself blushing as I watch him walking closer to the door. I go back to working on her drink and hear her talking again.

"Hello."

If he's nice to-

"Oh hello! How are you today?"

God of course he's nice to older people.

"I'm just great pumpkin thank you."

I refuse to look up and see what cute interactions could be happening.

I was distracting myself with her drink so I couldn't listen in. I hand her her order and change. She then leaned in a bit hiding her mouth from Hongjoong.

"You too would look cute together."

I almost screamed but I contained myself by just freezing there. I never told her I was bisexual. The thing that got me the most was she didn't whisper. There's no way Hongjoong didn't hear her. She bows and turns to the door.

"Have a good holiday boys!" She waved and walked out before we could say anything.

I was stuck in my position with my eyes wide open. I clear my throat trying to recover from what just happened. I look over to Hongjoong and his face bright red. It was not that red when he walked in. What do we do now? My legs were shaking from behind the counter. Hongjoong finally smiled and laughed. I couldn't tell if it was out of nervousness or out of humor.

"I'm so sorry I don't know what that last part was about," I spoke up.

My heart was still beating a mile a minute.

"Hm? Oh," He said and chuckled. "No need to apologize, she seems amazing, I love her. I can see why you guys like her here so much. She did catch me off guard on…" he started coughing a bit. "-that. But I'm sure she just meant we are both attractive and if we were seen together we would take down everyone in our way."

We both started laughing and I figured out it was both. Humor at the situation and us completely panicking and trying to act like she meant something else. I finally looked up and we made eye contact at the same time. My heart just drops and I look away to the cash register.

"Whatcha want today?" I felt a lump in my throat as I talked.

"Same as yesterday."

We had a moment of silence and I had a chance to catch my breath as I took his order. Please say things aren't weird now oh god. I looked back at him and his face was back to its natural color.

"When's your last day of work? Unless you work during break as well."

"The day after school lets out, on Friday."

"Then tomorrow is your last day off. Do you maybe wanna hang out again?"

Wow this guy is bold after what granny said. Before I could answer, he spoke up again.

"Unless you have other plans it's fine I was ju-"

"Yah! What happened to the confident senior that first asked me to hang out! The Hongjoong I first met never considered my other plans for the day."

He starts to laugh.

"Now ask me the correct way!" I almost screamed.

"Do you want to hang out tomorrow!" Hongjoong yelled, getting up to my volume.

"Yeah sure what's the plan?" I said calmly.

He covered his face, laughing. His laugh is so pretty I'm glad I'm able to make him laugh. I finished his drink as he thought about what we could do. As I lay his drink and donut on the counter his face lights up.

"I got it! I'll send you details later okay?"

"Wait can't you just tell me now there's no one in line."

"Nope! It's a surprise," he smiled mischievously.

"Oh I don't like that."

He grabbed his stuff and started walking to the door.

"See ya tomorrow Yunho!" He called and walked out.

Once he drove off I crouched down still holding the top of the counter so I wouldn't hit the floor. Gosh she had to say something. I love her to death but did she have to come after me like that? And Hongjoong with the surprise what's that supposed to mean? My manager came out so I stood up before he caught me. Kim Hongjoong what have you done to me? I just had to fall for you didnt I?

I made it home and as soon as Mingi spotted me he asked me for details. At this point it's a daily routine.  
"Surprise you say…" Mingi said rubbing his hands together.

I didn't tell him what granny said as he would go feral but I told him about the surprise plan.

"Yeah he's saying he'll send details later but I have no clue what he's plotting."

"You know it's almost as if he's teasing you…" Mingi smiled.

"Friends can surprise each other."

Mingi tilted his head in a 'really?' Type of expression.

"I feel like he could say 'can I take you on a date' and still think you two are just friends," Mingi mocked Hongjoong's voice.

I roll my eyes and I hear my phone go off for a text. Mingi tried grabbing it before me but I slapped his hand away.

Hongjoong: _meet up at the park from last time and I'll lead you to the actual place ;)_

I'm not being kidnapped am I? I mean I'm gullible enough. I wouldn't be surprised if he were to be some creep, he's too nice. Mingi looked over my shoulder to see the text. I didn't attempt to push him away so he got away with it.

"Hmm...yep. That is not how normal friends text."

"Shut up," I shoved his head away.

"When have you EVER seen a friend send a winky face!?! Hm!?" He defended himself.

"I- I don't know but this is Hongjoong I think that's just his natural personality."

"Mhm ok lemme just ask Hwa if he would agree to this personality."

"HEY! We do not bring Hwa into this."

"Then accept that ain't how friend's text each other!"

"It's. His. Personality."

We both stared dead at each other and initiated a short staring contest.

"Keep telling yourself that bud," he stood up still looking at me till he almost tripped.

"Saw that."

"You didn't!"

I look back at my phone and smile.

Yunho: You're really not going to tell me?

Given he'd just sent the first text, he responded right away.

Hongjoong: _Nope -w-_

What am I being brought into?


	11. Chapter 11

Monday 3:00 p.m.

My last class finally let out and I went straight for my car. I have to see where he's trying to take me. I don't even bother texting him how I was on my way. I made no pit stops and got to the park within minutes. I park my car and see Hongjoong was already here. I roll down my window instead of getting out in the cold. 

"How long have you been waiting?" I asked.

"Just got here a minute ago. I had to arrive before you this time," he smiled. "You ready?" 

"Still not gonna tell me what we're doing?"

"Just follow me," Hongjoong said as he rolled up his window. 

I rolled up my window as he backed out to lead the way. I was able to keep sight of him on the road which I'm lucky for. After a few more minutes, he turns into a parking lot. I didn't look at what was past the parking lot and just focused on driving. I stepped out after parking and saw a skating rink. An ice skating rink. I laugh in disbelief. Hongjoong gets out of his car and came to my side.

"Hongjoong I've never ice skated before," I said, still frozen.

"All the more reason on why this is perfect! I think you'll like it once you get the hang of it," Hongjoong bounced in joy.

"I don't know-" 

"If you don't like it we can always go out to eat but for now you're skating."

He grabbed my wrist and started pulling me towards the entrance. It was an outdoors skating rink so I could already see some skaters. There weren't too many people there but that could easily change. All the skaters looked super good and it seemed like I was going to be the only newbie here. Hongjoong managed to buy our tickets while I was panicking.

"How much was it? I can pay you ba-" 

"Don't worry about it. First time skating is on me. Grab your skate size and meet me by the bench over there." 

I grabbed my skates and looked at the sharp, thin rim to them. I'm going to lose a limb with these things. Or break my ankles. I can still work culinary without ankles right? I'll manage. Hongjoong already had his skates on when I arrived.

"I'm guessing you skate often?" I took a seat and put on the first skate.

"I wouldn't say often but I come over when I can." 

Hongjoong tries to reassure me I won't injure myself but I obviously couldn't trust him as I was looking directly at the blades. I got both skates on but then didn't stand up.

"Alright you got them on. Congrats. Now for the actual skating." Hongjoong teased.

I groaned as I put my face into my lap. Well it was a decent run. At least I'd die around my crush, that's something right? I felt a hand land on my back and I froze. 

"Yunho, I promise I won't let anything happen to you. I wouldn't have brought you here if it was bad," He spoke in a soft but serious tone. "It's okay to be scared, it's new."

I took a deep breath and sat up. Am I really looking like a coward in front of him? It's skating and there are little kids out there. If they can do it I'm sure I can do it as well.

"I can't do it!" I screamed as I was finally on the ice.

Hongjoong laughed as he came up to the pole I was holding onto. 

"You made it onto the rink, don't back out now! Just hold onto the pole and drag yourself. That's how I started." 

"Alright how old were you?"

"That's not the point. No one's going to bother you or at least with me around," Hongjoong exclaimed with his hands on his hips.

I almost fell trying to stand up all the way but I managed. I started slowly dragging myself across the ice which felt humiliating. I started laughing in embarrassment.

"You're doing it!" Hongjoong cheered, not leaving my side.

"You don't have to wait for me to get used to it. You can skate if you want."

"Well then we wouldn't really be hanging out now would we? Besides this is entertaining."

I looked back to him in disgust and he laughed. The first straight felt terribly long and I thought I'd never make it around the oval at this speed. We got to the curve and it wasn't as bad as I expected. Probably with how slow I was going at this point. We finished the curve and it was time to go straight again. I felt my legs and posture lift up a bit more. I kept going and started moving a bit faster. Hongjoong kept his cheer game strong with every bit of progress. We finally made it back to where we started and I sighed in relief.

"You made one round! How was it?" 

"Honestly... don't remember. I think I was lost there for a moment."

"Then I guess we're just going to have to go around again." 

I groaned in exhaustion but I went again. I let my outside hand let go of the pole and I almost fell but I caught myself. This was going to be a long event.

After a few more times around I thought it was finally time to remove my other hand from the pole. I let go but as soon as I took the slightest step I went flying backwards. My heart really dropped at that moment and was already accepting my first concussion before collapsing. I closed my eyes, embarrassed of me falling, till I felt someone grab my arm. I latched onto their arm and they pulled me up before I fell.

"I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you didn't I?" 

After taking a deep breath, I look over to see Hongjoong. I wasn't surprised he was the one who caught me; it's the fact he was able to catch me. How'd he move so fast? Hongjoong was looking me in the eye and smiling. It was a calming smile and I couldn't help but smile back. 

"Thank you. Really." 

I realized we were still holding each other's arms and I let go in a panic. He let go just as fast and put his hand behind his head. 

"It's no problem really I was ready right when you let go." 

"What's that supposed to mean!?!"

He laughed at my defense. "Nothing, almost everyone falls once they first let go."

I drag myself over to the beam in shame. I don't want to hold onto it the whole time. I don't want to slow down Hongjoong either. 

"I think I'll sit out for a minute. I still have yet to see how good you are." I said, scooting over to the entrance.

"I suppose you're worthy of a break. Need any help?"

"I got it, trust me." I said in embarrassment.

I stumble over to the nearest bench and I look out to the rink to find Hongjoong. He was already at the farthest end. He was moving so smoothly with a few spins here and there. I could see him smiling all the way from where I was. He looked so euphoric. I couldn't look away from him. Sure there were pros in the center with their cool jump spins but I only cared about one skater out there. His arms started raising up from his sides and feeling the breeze. Once he finally got to my side of the rink he waved with both hands up in the air. I laughed at him and waved back. I held my hand over my heart trying to calm myself down once he wasn't looking. After watching him a bit longer I decided to go back out there. He stopped at the entrance right when I came in.

"You really came back!" 

"You thought I wouldn't?"

"I didn't think you were having fun. I was about to come get you to leave."

"No no I have to let go of the beam by the end of today."

Hongjoong clapped in joy. "I like the enthusiasm! I could always drag you across the ice though," he held his arm out. My heart started racing at the offer so I kindly said no.

"If it makes you feel better I think you're learning pretty fast," he said full of encouragement.

"This is learning fast? Gosh this is exhausting."

He laughed as I started to drag myself away. Of course he easily kept pace with me so I couldn't get away from him. I would look down sometimes to see his small hands. Even with his gloves on, his hands looked so tiny and pure. I wish I could hold it. Wait! Wait I didn't really just think that did I? And am I still denying I have a crush on him? I scrunch my face up, embarrassed at my own thoughts. He's just so perfect it's overwhelming. Are angels disguised as humans really a thing? It doesn't sound too unbelievable with him around. Perfect face, personality, voice, everything! I gained my focus back when Hongjoong started talking.

"Yunho, you seem distracted." He questioned me. He was skating backwards right in front of me.

"Oh sorry I was just lost in thought."

"Can I know one's thoughts?" Hongjoong cocked his head.

"Just how I can't skate," I lied.

"If we come often enough you can catch up to me!" 

How did I get lucky enough to start hanging out with my crush. Is it a gift or a curse? Questions about crushes the world may never know.

After a solid two hours of skating, I was exhausted. Hongjoong was understanding enough and we stepped out of the rink. After I took the skates off I felt so short and my feet were numb. It wasn't a new feeling but it's not something to get used to. I went over to my locker and as I was slipping one of my shoes on, I looked at my phone for any notifications. 12 messages and 4 missed calls all from Mingi. I guess not knowing where he took me can be a bit worrisome. I pushed the call button on one of his missing calls and waited. He picked up after a few rings.

"Yunho where are you!?!" Mingi said, sounding slightly panicked.

"I forgot to tell you I wasn't kidnapped whoops."

"Look I think I can trust Hongjoong but I'm still a detective I needed proof you were okay."

"Alright sorry mom. We're gonna pick up something to eat before he goes to his classes and then I'll be home, is that okay?"

I heard grumbling on the other end and a small okay before he hung up.

"Rude," I scoffed at my phone. I got my other shoe on and made my way to Hongjoong.

"Ready to go?" Hongjoong swung his keys around his finger.

I nodded and we walked out. I followed behind Hongjoong again to our destination. We had no fancy pizza dinner like last time. Plain, good ol' fast food. We met up inside and I ordered our food while Hongjoong found us seats. I could be over thinking things but dinner seems quieter than usual. We still talked a good amount but Hongjoong seemed different. Maybe he was just tired but something was off. His face was still bright pink as if he just came inside from the cold. Was he getting sick again? He seemed happy though and I would catch his smile every so often. The silence was killing me so I decided to bring something up.

"How do you feel about it being your last semester after this break? I remember you saying it felt weird but you never went into detail."

Hongjoong glanced my way right when I started talking. Ever since we first started talking he was really good with keeping eye contact. With me having a crush on him it really did hurt.

"Ahh I keep forgetting I'm a senior. I really don't want to leave this place, it's a good school. I'm excited to move out. I wasn't able to before because if I did my parents said they wouldn't help me pay off college fees. Once I find a job I can finally pay the rest myself." 

I frown at the comment on his parents. This is the second time I've heard poorly about them. I don't know what goes down in his home but I feel he deserves more support from them.

"Were they forcing you to stay?"

"They're getting up there in age so they need help around the house whenever I'm home for break. Doesn't phase me too much as I'm only there for a few weeks."

"I'm sorry to ask about such a sensitive topic," I apologize if I overstepped my boundaries.

"No no I don't mind that doesn't really bother me." 

I would've asked him more but I didn't want to ask him anything he wasn't ready to answer. I hope one day I can though. I want to help him however I can. I want him to be happy with no nightmares. That's all.


	12. Chapter 12

Monday 8:46 p.m.

"Ice skating!?! Gosh he's basically screaming he likes you!" Mingi freaked out as I told him about today's hangout.

"Alright now you've really lost it. Mingi there is no way Hongjoong likes me. He said he liked ice skating and wanted to see me try it out." 

"There are so many other things to do at a hang out but he chose ice skating. Have you seen no dramas or movies? Ice skating is when the two lovers fall for each other."

"Yeah, literally falling. Ice skating is impossible!" I tried changing the subject. I can't tell what's harder to believe. The apocalypse or Hongjoong liking me. 

"I can only imagine what you looked like out there," Mingi cackled. "But that's not the matter at hand!"

"Mingi I don't know if you've considered this yet but we don't even know what he likes. He could just be a straight dude looking for friends." 

Mingi opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again. Without saying anything, he reached for his phone.

"Mingi. Mingi what are you doing?" 

"I'm not texting Hwa calm yourself. Have you even tried finding him on social media?"

I haven't. I've liked him for almost two weeks and I haven't looked him up yet. I pulled out my phone to help Mingi out with the task. I always felt weird looking up people's pages but Mingi was bound to do it at some point. I'm kind of shocked he took this long. 

After looking at all the popular platforms, we found no information on his sexuality. I did have to beg Mingi to not follow him on everything. I could've followed him on something but then it would've shown I looked him up.

"Hm… Maybe I have to ask Seonghwa." 

"NO!" I shouted and tried to grab his phone.

"Ughh fine. But how else are we supposed to find out? You obviously won't ask him and I don't know him well enough for it not to sound rude." 

"Mingi I'm telling you there's no way we are going to get together. I told you at dinner we were quiet. Maybe he's losing interest or I'm scaring him off."

"Or he's starting to like you back and is getting nervous. This is why I need to follow you guys on your 'hang outs' to see how he's acting." 

"Mingi you're too hopeful." 

"And you're too quick to assume if a relationship is possible or not. It's been two weeks, don't give up hope yet."

I smile at his optimism. Both of us are very cheerful people but when it comes to love I really go down in that department. I've never dated before so of course I have little hope. 

"Alright...alright I'll stop jumping to assumptions." 

"Thank you," Mingi sounded satisfied. "This will be a tough mission though given we have a week left till break. This could mean you see him more often because of no school or...you never talk again bUT THAT'S WORST CASE SCENARIO!" Mingi panicked.

"Yeah...yeah I've got nothing to lose."

"That's right," Mingi nodded. 

I've got nothing to lose. Besides Hongjoong. Which is a lot.

Wednesday 10:19 a.m.

So Monday's weird dinner meant nothing as of now because Hongjoong is still visiting. Hongjoong caught me on my break today and we sat together as always. We still had our quiet moments and my moments of gay panics but nothing major happened. 

When I got back around the counter, I went into my first crisis. Sure I've had my gay panic moments with him but it didn't feel like that. Why are things different? It's not bad, we still are having a fun time but why is it different? I still see Hongjoong smiling just as bright as when we first met but why is it still different? I felt sick to my stomach and had to change the thought.

"So when exactly are you going to tell me you like him?" I heard someone come up to my side.

I turn around and see Seonghwa leaning on the counter with his elbows. 

"H-huh?" 

"You know, you and the walking cherry. How dense do you think I am?" 

"Seonghwa I- what are you talking about?" 

I didn't know what to say, I was in shock.

"I don't mean to rush you in coming out but gosh you two look so happy I just had to ask what was happening." 

"D- did you know I wasn't straight for a while?" I couldn't lie. There was no point in lying.

"I thought you were straight and just had never dated. Until last week when I realized you may not be so straight."

"I'm sorry I never told you. I just never fall for anyone so I didn't really feel the need to say anything. I- I'm bisexual though." I stuttered the last part.

I was so scared of what his reaction would be. I don't want things to be weird between us.

"No need to say sorry I don't blame you for not coming out. It's scary to see what people will think. I'm proud of you." Seonghwa said with a sincere smile.

We never take each other seriously so it was really heartwarming to see this side of us. I felt my throat clench up and thought I was going to lose myself. I was able to swallow the feeling down.

"Now that I've confirmed you do like guys... can I get confirmation that you like Hongjoongie?"

"I- please, please! Don't tell him anything." 

"I'm closer to you than I am with him. I'm not saying a word. That's for you to tell him if anything."

"I can't! I just- it's a meaningless crush that I'm sure will blow over. I don't even know what his sexuality is so I'm not saying anything."

"Dude. He's gay." Seonghwa said, almost laughing.

"What?" 

"I thought he made that one pretty obvious."

"You're not just assuming are you?"

"Nope he's out and proud. I'm kind of surprised he's gone this long without mentioning he's gay to you."

I was overflowing with joy so much I almost jumped. So he's not straight! So I actually have a chance! Alright sure they're still pretty low but it's not impossible. I started running in place with joy and took a breath afterwards.

"Wow. I never thought you could be any weirder. Moment over, that looked stupid."

I slapped him upside the head and he almost punched my arm till our boss came out. For the rest of my shift I couldn't stop smiling. My entire mood from my crisis had changed. Sure things are still awkward between us but now there could be an actual good reason for the silence! I still don't think he likes me like that but if he's gay...I could change that. 

"Mingi Mingi Mingi!" I screamed like a little kid as soon as I got home.

"What! You're never this giddy what's happening!?!"

"He's gay!"

Mingi froze for a moment before screaming in joy. We both grabbed each other's shoulders and shook each other still screaming. 

"How'd you find out?" 

"Seonghwa… He found out I liked him without me even saying anything."

"I mean I'm sure you two look pretty obvious." I looked him dead in the eye and he shivered. "But this is great news now you can ask him out!"

I start laughing hysterically. "Ah Mingi instead of a detective you should become a comedian." Mingi didn't reply. "Are you insane? There's no way I can ask him out! You act as if I'm confident!"

"But what's the harm in trying! What, are you just gonna wait for him to ask you out?"

"Yeah. That was kind of the plan actually." 

"Nooo. What if he's also scared so you never end up dating?"

"Welp. It's called a crush for a reason. Also why are you making it sound like he likes me back? Him? Really?"

"What did I say about making assumptions?"

"How can I not? He's perfect you really think I have a chance with that?" 

"Of course! Yunho with what you've told me he seems really happy around you. I think whoever dates you in the future, whether it's Hongjoong or not, they are going to be so lucky. But I really think you have a chance with him." 

"Awe thanks Mings.” 

“I’m gonna get a cavity with all I’ve been saying to you. Now we need a proper plan instead of you hoping he asks.”

I swallowed down my nerves as he said that. I can’t ask him out. Sure everything sounded genuine and there always is the chance he likes me back but I can’t ask him! We spent the next half hour going over everything Hongjoong ever said he liked. He seems to like winter just as much as me so we figured something dealing with the outdoors. I was stumped and also just didn’t want to give Mingi any more ideas to make me ask him out. Fifteen more minutes passed and as I was working on dishes Mingi gasps, almost making me drop a plate. 

“The tree lighting! How did it take me this look to think of it!?! I can see it now! You two right after the tree lights up you finally confess.”

“Mingi what if it goes wrong and it ruins his whole night? And isn’t the tree lighting our thing? I can’t leave you behind!”

“But what if it goes right and becomes his best tree lighting ever? And you’re forgetting we have next year to go together. Not to mention after college we can go to all the tree lightings you want to go to. Just ask him if he wants to go with you and we’ll see from there!”

I sighed. So I’m really doing this. My stomach churned at the thought of his rejection. I suppose there’s always the chance he already has plans with someone and doesn’t want to go with me. Then I would never have to ask him out. When should I ask him? I shouldn’t do it over text as much as I want to and I can’t ask him the day of. So it’s either tomorrow or Friday. Two days to decide if I’m really going through with this. That’s hardly enough time! I felt two hands land on my shoulders.

“It’s going to work out. It’s Hongjoong, I don’t think he’d say anything to really hurt you.”

All I could do was nod. He’s not wrong. He’s not a hard person to talk to, he won’t say anything too bad. I can do this… I can do this.


	13. Chapter 13

Thursday 10:21 a.m.

Hongjoong caught me on my break which would’ve been the perfect time for me to ask him to the tree lighting...but I did not do that. The whole thirty minutes he was here I talked about everything but the tree lighting. I didn’t forget, trust me I’m fully aware I missed an opportunity. I just haven’t had to ever ask him to hangout; he normally does that. I clock back in and head up to the front.

“So you didn’t ask him yet tsk tsk,” Seonghwa said.

“What do you mean I didn’t ask yet?”

“Mingi told me about the plan. He wanted me to tell him when you ask Hongjoong to hangout.”

I gasped but I wasn’t surprised.

“He also renamed the group chat to mission: Yunjoong.”

“Gosh, now there really is no getting out of this.”

“I don’t see what’s so scary. Like sure this is your first time asking someone out let alone the closest you’ve ever been to dating someone. But this is Hongjoong there really is no threat. Besides, you have your honorary 3rd and 4th wheels ready to go!” Seonghwha pointed to himself in pride.

“I know he’s not scary!” I throw my body onto the counter. “I’m just waiting till the last minute to ask that’s all.”

“Mhm. Well, the last minute is tomorrow so have fun. I’ll try my best to get you on break the time he comes in.”

“Thanks, Hwa.”

Though I couldn’t really tell whether I was really thankful for his offer or not. He nods and leaves me at the front counter. I checked my phone while there was no business to see what was going on in the group chat.

Mingi: _seonghwa make sure he asks! the deadline is tomorrow good luck soldiers!!_

Seonghwa: _aye aye mings you can count on me_

That was just as my shift started and now there were new texts.

Seonghwa: _he didnt ask captain mings_

Mingi: _YUNHO IT SAYS YOUR ONLINE EXPLAIN Y_

Yunho: _I’ll do it tomorrow im aware i cant get out of asking_

Mingi: _thats quite correct im expecting you to follow through_

I hear the door open and quickly put my phone away. Anyone may read those messages thinking they’re putting too much pressure on me but really if they didn’t do this I would just deal with my crush till he graduated. Even though we have a whole semester for me to ask him out I feel like they would go insane if I waited any longer. I would too if I had to continue hiding off my real feelings. But even if I ask him out to the tree lighting, will I even be able to actually ask him out? I’ve never dated before and I’ve never asked someone out and at my age, that’s not a good sign. But I had to do it. Too far into the plan to back out now. At least today was the last day of school so once I finish all my finals I’m free to panic all I want.

Friday 6:30 a.m.

It sucks I had to get up so early right when we got out of school but at least today would be the last time. Of course, it was colder than normal so getting out of bed was a struggle. Maybe I should call in sick on my last day? I could get out of asking. I turned my head to face my window and looked out to the snow lightly coming down. After a few minutes of just laying there, not bothering to move, I finally stood up. Right when I came out, I saw Mingi in the kitchen with a cup of coffee.

“Good morning! I made you coffee!” Mingi smiled as he pushed my coffee forward.

“Thank you? Why are you up so early?” I questioned.

“I just woke up. Decided to help you prepare for your last day at work and for you know what.”

I took a sip of my coffee and it was actually drinkable. I could only wonder how many tries it took for him to get it as he even struggles with his own. I told him there wasn’t much to prepare for as I couldn’t wear anything besides my work uniform. He stayed around anyways since he already drank some coffee. Mingi quietly hypes me up for the day and it was so sweet I thought I was going to be sick. I eventually had to leave the comfort of my house. I didn’t bother turning on music today and just concentrated on driving. When I walked in, I spotted Seonghwa in the front waving at me.

“You guys are being way too positive, you're making things weird.”

“Sorry it’s just my little bro is growing up!” he cried and started squeezing me to death. “Ok but seriously we just wanna support you. Trust me, once you finally ask him out I have to catch up on clowning.”

“Alright, perfect you had me worried there,” I laughed it off.

An hour or so passes and finally, the man of the hour arrives. Seonghwa managed to bribe enough people to have their break just so I could get mine for this moment. Hongjoong got his order from Seonghwa as I clocked out. When I came out from behind the corner, Seonghwa saluted me off.

I made sure conversation never died off but also still felt natural. I couldn’t tell whether I seemed nervous or not but I felt like I kept my cool pretty well. Seonghwa will probably think differently. Only ten minutes left on the clock and it was finally time to ask him. I didn’t want to ask at the start in case I was rejected and things got awkward. I swear I could feel my whole body beating with my heart.

“So Hongjoong,” My voice shook a bit and I swallowed it down. “I remember you saying you like the lights in winter and I was wondering if you maybe wanted to see the tree lighting with me.”

Wow, that went way smoother in my head. I probably sounded so awkward. Did I make it too obvious? Is he going to know something’s up? Hongjoong looked surprised for a moment and it flipped over to a smile.

“Yeah, I’d love too! Most of my friends here I have to drag to go so it’d be nice to go with someone that won’t complain at every little inconvenience.”

We both laughed for a second before just looking at each other. I started to panic thinking I made things awkward by staring but he looked completely fine with it. His eyes turned into little crescents yet you could still see the sparkle in his eye. My face began to burn so I took a sip of my drink and spoke again.

“We can talk about the time and place to meet up tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait.”

The last few minutes we spent talking about what we could do before and after the tree lighting. The whole day will be filled with activities starting at noon and the actual tree lighting will happen around ten. They never had a set curfew as most people left from freezing off. Hongjoong seemed to be smiling brighter after I asked him so I guess that’s a good sign but now the next step. I ask him out… tomorrow.

I swoop around the counter and I see Seonghwa vigorously typing on his phone. I figured it was to tell Mingi I did it so I didn’t bother checking my phone.

“See ya Hwa!” Hongjoong waved before walking out.

Seonghwa waved back and as soon as he was out of sight I started jumping and hitting the table in joy.

“Oh my gosh, you really do like him,” Seonghwa wheezed.

“I did it! He said yes!” I cheered, still bouncing around.

“I saw! We told you you could do it.”

I could feel pain rise in my cheeks from smiling so hard. I was able to calm down and talk to Seonghwa about the next step. Seonghwa was mentioning some hot spots I could ask him out at to make it ‘more romantic.’ After a few minutes, Mingi walks in cheering me on.

“YES YUNHO!!!” He exclaimed as he high fived me over the counter. “I knew you could do it! Are you ready for our last step tomorrow night?”

“Let me have this victory for a moment.” I sighed.

Mingi laughed at my pain until a customer walked in and that’s when he ran off. After they left he came crawling back.

“Wow Mingi leaving the house when there’s no school? Yunho you’re giving the kid a reason to see the outdoors.”

“He has been super energetic all day. He even woke up before me.”

Seonghwa held onto his heart as I said it. “You mean he slept, woke up early, and left the house? Where’s Mingi!” He latched onto Mingi’s shirt.

“Look I had to be healthy and be on Yunho’s level of health care so I can be around for updates. I know you could only dream to be healthy Hwa.”

Seonghwa pushed his knuckle into Mingi’s head as he screamed in pain. I’m really shocked we haven’t been fired or Mingi hasn’t been banned. After a few more minutes of talking, we saw more cars pull into the parking lot so Mingi left and we went to work.

The rest of the day was fairly calm with small occurrences of heart flutters thinking about tomorrow. As soon as I got home, I bolted to my room and fell onto my bed. Lying there thinking about how I almost didn’t go to work today. I know I still had to ask him out but I managed to get him to agree to go to the tree lighting with me. Out of happiness and nature instinct, I hopped into the kitchen and started baking. I probably wasn’t going to bring any deserts tomorrow but baking is always so much fun to do in any mood really. Sad, stressed, happy! I turned on one of my playlists and got to baking some classic chocolate chip cookies. Mingi finally came out once he smelled food. He tried giving me advice for tomorrow and I took it surprisingly. I mean he has dated several times so I guess he would know a few things about staying calm and how to sound natural. Once the cookies were finished, Mingi rushed into the kitchen to grab ‘the coldest milk and the warmest cookie’ as he likes to say. Mingi turned on the T.V. to find us a Christmas movie to finish off the night. Life was truly on my side all day. I hope this alliance lasts till tomorrow.


	14. Chapter 14

Saturday 9:30 a.m.

I easily wake up from my alarm and sit up still surrounded by blankets. I didn’t bother getting up right away and just looked around my room with the natural lighting coming in. Listening to the cars pass by on our street and to muffled conversations downstairs. I checked my phone for anything new and finally got out of bed. I made myself a simple breakfast with coffee to the side. After a few more minutes of silence and calm, Mingi pops out from his cave. It was strange having a morning with him but I liked it when that rare occasion happened. I made enough food for him to eat as well so there was simple, small talk at the start. Once he devoured the whole thing he finally began to hype me up for the day.

“Today’s the day of the tree lighting! You know what that means don’t cha?”

“Not a clue,” I teased.

“C’monnn! I’m so excited I feel like I could run a mile!” Mingi hopped in place. Out of the blue, Mingi stops and gasps. “I can help you get ready for today! Can I pleee-”

“Of course was there even another way to get ready?”

I always assisted Mingi when getting ready for his first dates so I feel like we have to always do it now.

“Yes! I’ve been waiting for the day I could do this! It’s actually happening! Remember when this all started with a wittle crush on a customer and now you're their friend and about to ask them out?”

“It really does feel weird that I’m preparing for this. I’m happy for you to finally have the honor of assisting me.”

Mingi shouted one more time before dragging me into my room. He flung my closet doors open and started searching. I pulled my phone out to get us some music. The outfit was always a huge part to starting a date right. No. A hangout. Mingi has referred it to this being a date so much it’s sinking in. I mean I guess it could be considered a date if asking him out goes well. My cheeks were burning and I had to wake myself up from my daydream. Mingi was pulling out all my sweaters and putting them up to my chest to review. I would nod to the ones I liked and he would determine whether my taste was good or not. He soon enough pulled out all my jeans and compared them with the sweater. Mingi made jokes on some of the outfits I had and it was enjoyable to watch.

We finally made our decision but he begged I take a shower before seeing if it was the one. After I got out and was blow-drying my hair I saw he also picked out my shoes. I put the whole outfit on and we both loved it. I was a little nervous he’d choose something out of my comfort zone for today but he did a good job. It was a tan sweater with black jeans and light brown, ankle-high boots. Next was hair which was pretty much done. After curling it just the slightest bit, I was ready. I curl my hair every now and again and although Mingi clowned me for having a wand, he still liked the look. We contemplated me wearing makeup but I decided not to as I didn’t want to be obvious. Once I had my whole look for the day, I started to text Hongjoong about time and place. Hongjoong replied decently fast and we both agreed around one. As for place he wanted to meet up at the cafe since it’s relatively close to the center of the university. I had two hours left before my all-day Hongjoong event. Sure we’ve gone half an hour to four hours but this would roughly be a majority of our waking hours. Before putting my phone away, Seonghwa texted the group chat.

Seonghwa: _ill be around town hall 6-11 so if anything happens im around ;)_

Mingi: _hwaaa can i join you tonite? i dont wanna suffer alone :((_

“Wait so you liked the tree lighting I forced you every year to go to? You always make it sound like you’d rather stay home,” I question him.

“I thought I’d wanna stay home too but now you’ve made me make it a tradition.”

Seonghwa: _one or two of my friends from my hometown will be around if your fine with that_

Mingi: _yes :3_

Yunho: _Thanks for the offer Hwa_

I didn’t know what to do with myself for the next two hours. I was too antsy to really do anything, I just wanted to see him. Mingi recommended I start packing for tomorrow so I have less work. I listened to him and went into my room before it was time to leave.

Finally, my two hours were up and I was getting my coat and keys to leave. Mingi sent me on my way and waved out the window when I got into my car. I made it to the cafe and that’s when my heart started to race. The whole day I was fine. I guess realization hit me that I was actually doing this. Hongjoong pulled in a few minutes after me so I took a deep breath and stepped out of the car.

“YAAH! I’m so excited for today! This really is my favorite event the school holds,” Hongjoong bounced around.

“I know! Probably because they put the most effort into this though,” I laughed.

They have other holiday events for Halloween or the entrance into a new season but they always left the biggest budget for Christmas.  
“Shall we start walking to the center?” Hongjoong bowed and gestured onward.

“Of course we shall,” I played along and bowed.

The cafe was only a couple of blocks away so walking wouldn’t be too bad. We made it over and Hongjoong spotted business tents and wanted to look around. I naturally said yes. There were many different shops ranging from apparel to jewelry to video games, they had it all. Hongjoong grabbed a beret and when I thought he was going to try it on, he put it on me. I stood there surprised for a moment and almost blushed but I contained myself. I struck a pose for him and he giggled.

“I like it,” Hongjoong nodded in approval. “Excuse me, sir, how much is this?” Hongjoong called over the tent worker.

“Wait wait Hongjoong I can’t let you buy this for me.”

“Why not? I like it on you. Unless you don’t like it.”

“No, it’s really nice but-”

“Then I’m buying it,” Hongjoong handed his money to the worker before I could argue anymore. Hongjoong was wearing a cheesy smile on his face.

“I can pay you back.”

“No need. Friends buy things for each other. I'm sure your time will come where you get me something.”

I thanked him for the gift and we continued on with looking. It was always so refreshing to see him happy and excited. Jumping from tent to tent without even a glimpse of darkness radiating. Hongjoong bought himself some jewelry while I wasn’t looking so I couldn’t buy it for him. We saw all the tents and continued to walk through the center.

“You did have lunch before coming here right?” Hongjoong asked seriously.

“Hm? Yeah, was I supposed to wait?”

“No, I ate as well I just needed to make sure you weren’t skipping.”

He’s now checking on my health? If I didn’t like him before, I feel like I definitely would’ve fallen for him eventually.

A few hours passed and we did loads of things. Watched a Christmas classic and a bit of a Christmas play, went into holiday stores, and even saw the Christmas parade! We were in the middle of having dinner and the sun was starting to go down. We stayed in the restaurant talking for quite some time since we were freezing to death. It wasn’t snowing but there was still some leftover on the ground from the previous fall. I look over to Hongjoong with his bright, cold cheeks and his warm smile. His slightly faded red hair with just the slightest bit of brown coming back. His eyes that always managed to shine even when there was hardly any light. It was really too good to be true and I finally accepted the fact that I liked him. Hongjoong looks up to me and I take a sip of my drink to cover up me staring.

“Only two more hours till the lights. I can’t believe this will be my last one as a student,” Hongjoong stared out to the window.

“Will you come back in the future?”

“Of course. I don’t know for how long but I’m not ready to lose this part of my life yet.”

“Me too. I’m glad I could accompany you on your graduation year,” I smiled.

We had a moment of silence and continued to eat our food. Two hours till the tree lighting. Two plus hours till I confess.

Snow started to fall just a few minutes before we lit up the tree. Hongjoong had his body scrunched up into his coat.

“Is someone cold?”

“Pfft yeah right. I don’t get cold. This is just a fashion sense. I think you’re the one who’s cold,” Hongjoong argued.

“Well I mean yeah it’s cold it’s snowing but I’m not gonna wimp out. I’d understand if you did though.”

Before I knew it Hongjoong punched me in the arm and I laughed out the pain. We were making our way closer to the tree to get a good view and I was able to spot Mingi and Seonghwa in all of the crowd. Mingi was getting along with one of Seonghwa’s friends, which was really no surprise from him, and Seonghwa talked with the other. I’m glad we were all having fun even when we weren’t together. Five minutes until the countdown and we made it to a good area to watch it at. I was thinking about where I could tell him, I know I waited till the very last minute, and I thought I could maybe get him to walk through the park we first hung out at. They light up all of the small trees on the pathway and it would be quiet enough so he can hear me instead of in this crowd.

Soon enough the countdown started at ten seconds left. Everyone sounded excited and cold. Hongjoong and I were one of the louder people but no one seemed to care. 3… 2… 1… The lights came on and colors poured all over the center. The tree was a burst of all sorts of colors, the small trees around it were bright white, and the strings of light going from light post to light post was a beautiful purple. I looked over to Hongjoong who had a euphoric smile. The colors reflect against his eyes, making them even brighter. I too was extremely happy. I felt a warm sense being around him. It was a feeling I never wanted to lose or end. The crowd, after a few minutes, began to file out as Hongjoong and I continued to walk around.

“So this year is purple,” Hongjoong said in awe.

Every year they change the lights going around university since they were the easiest replacement. My first year was blue and last year was green. Purple certainly tops both off.

“It looks really nice. This may be my favorite.”

“Mine too.”

“Hey, do you want to check out what the park looks like?” I begged the question.

“Oh yeah! It probably looks so cool. And it’s on our way back to the cafe.”

We made it inside the pathway and we were right about it looking amazing. Only a few trees on the path had lights and yet it still managed to make the whole place shine. Hongjoong, still looking as amazed as before by the lights, started to slow down. I should tell him now. It was the perfect place and we were already slowing to a stop. My stomach began to churn again and part of me thought I was going to be sick. I had to remember what Mingi and Seonghwa said, it can’t be that bad. It wasn’t eleven yet so if I needed support afterward I could always find them. It was going to be okay. Hongjoong’s slow-walking finally came to a halt and I stopped soon after. I was preparing myself to turn around and tell him till he started talking.

“Yunho this has been a great night and I can’t thank you enough.”

I turn around to show my attention.

“You opened up to me to become friends, helped me in ungodly hours, and made me truly happy.”

“There’s no need to thank me Hongjoong I was more than happy to do all of that,” I replied.

Hongjoong ignored my statement. “What I’m trying to say here is… I like you.”


	15. Chapter 15

It felt as if time had stopped. My heart was racing and I felt like I had to run but I was stuck in place. Did Hongjoong mean like like? Or maybe he’s just reassuring me that our friendship isn’t fake. I tried saying anything but nothing would come out. Hongjoong’s face quickly changed into regret and covered his face.

“Gosh I’m sorry Yunho I just- I had to tell you at some point or else things would get weird,” he sighed. “I’ll get going. Thank you for everyth-”

He started to turn around and walk away. I quickly grabbed his hand to stop him. I was really going for the wrist to make things less awkward but here I was holding his hand. Hongjoong turned around to face me again and looked flustered.

“Hongjoong don’t go please,” I finally spoke. “I’m sorry I reacted like that I was just a little shocked ya see I was…”

Hongjoong nodded patiently while I tried to push the words out.

“...Also planning on confessing today.”

Hongjoong’s mouth fell and he covered it with his other hand. I heard muffled relieving laughs coming from him.

“W-wait is that why you invited me?”

I nodded. There was a moment of silence of us staring at each other. There were many emotions coming across. Relief, excitement, nervousness. I was still holding onto his hand and I didn’t know whether to let go or not. I should explain further, shouldn’t I?

“I’ve liked you since we met actually,” I laughed nervously. “Just something about you caught my eye that I wanted you.”

Oh, that came out wrong. Before I could correct myself, Hongjoong’s big smile was coming back and I felt like if we weren’t in the freezing cold he would be blushing.

“I’ve never asked anyone out so I waited for the last minute to tell you. I didn’t think you would beat me to it. Let alone like me back.”

“How could I not like you, you're perfect!”

He- he thinks I’m perfect? Me? My cheeks started to hurt from smiling. This can’t be real.

“When I first walked into the cafe, I was curious about who you were. Eventually, after a few days, I fell for you.”  
“Wow, so we were really both clueless,” We both laughed. “Did you know I wasn’t straight?”

“Absolutely not I was completely ready for you to reject me saying you’re straight,” Hongjoong laughed.

“I didn’t realize you weren’t straight until Seonghwa told me.”

“I didn’t make that clear? I guess I always panic and act like I am when I like someone. I guess I could’ve asked Mingi or Seonghwa but I didn’t want them to know I liked you if you were straight.”

I was glued to his eyes so I didn’t respond right away. This whole time I could never really get a good look at him in fear to make things awkward but now I could actually look. I think Hongjoong thought the same way as our eyes were locked.

“So now what?” I ask him seriously.

I had no clue where to go from here like are we dating now? Does one of us have to ask each other out? Mingi only taught me to this step!

“Well, granny did say we would look cute together,” Hongjoong smirked. “I think we should listen to the wise one.”

My smile returned with his words. I couldn’t stop myself and I went in for a hug. I was a little scared he wouldn’t want one but I felt asking him would be weird. My arms wrapped around him and I was thankful to feel his hug back, even stronger than I was. I was so ecstatic that I was actually hugging him. I confessed! Ok, given he confessed first but I said it back! Our soft laughter of relief filled the air. I looked out to the snow falling around us and the lights sparkling. I never thought I would ever make it this far. I thought this would be like any other crush that I would eventually give up on and Mingi would too soon after. I guess one of Mingi’s theories was right. We both let go and kept our eyes locked. Both of our hands locked after the hug.

“Gosh, I really didn’t see this coming. It’s funny you see me as perfect when this whole time I thought you were way out of my league,” I said.

“Really? I saw how pretty and kind you were to others, I didn't think I had a chance either.”

“No way," I said in disbelief.

"I'm not as confident as you think," Hongjoong raised an eyebrow.

"You had me fooled. I'm just saying you should be confident."

"I guess that's something we can both work on." Hongjoong smiled.

"I guess so. Should we start heading back to the cars before we freeze?"

Hongjoong let go of my left hand and turned to my side.

"Lead the way."

We swung our hands back and forth as we walked. We talked more about what our experience was liking each other and not saying anything. Hongjoong said right after I helped him with his nightmare he confirmed he liked me. I felt my phone vibrate and pulled it out with my free hand.

Mingi: _hwa just dropped me off home text me if your ok :]_

"Sorry it's Mingi."

"Don't apologize. It is getting late, he's just worried."

Yunho: _Heading to my car now. Things didn't work out._

I didn't want him to win so easily so I had to trick him. Hongjoong gasped and tried to hold in his laugh.

"You're horrible!"

"Don't act like you wouldn't do the same!"

Hongjoong didn't deny it. A few seconds later and I get a reply.

Mingi: _bud im so sorry._

"Now look what you did he's using punctuation!" Hongjoong slapped me lightly.

"Well I can't tell him good news over text!"

Yunho: _I'll be home soon._

I put my phone away and Hongjoong lays his head on my shoulder. I was still struggling to not freak out. Are you telling me the butterfly feeling doesn't leave when I'm with them? What the heck? I laid my head over his and we continued to walk. We made it to the cars and had to say goodbye. Hongjoong crashed into my body for a hug and I gladly hugged him back. We let go and I watched him get into his car and drive off before getting into my own. I made it home and got into acting before walking in. I felt pretty bad for tricking him but I would tell him soon enough. I sadly put down my shoes and kept my head down walking into the living room. I couldn't see much but Mingi said my name in sympathy and hugged me. I didn't hug back to really deepen the wound one last time. He let go and bent down to see my face. I was grinning so he would finally realize.

"Yunho?"

"We're together." I laughed as he shoved me away.

"Gosh you're really the worst! But I can't be mad right now are you serious!?! You two are really!?!"

I nod and he starts jumping with joy as did I. I quickly stopped us both because it was almost midnight and our neighbors already hate us enough.

"Oh my God! I knew it'd work out! Oh my God wait my best friend is taken! Finally!" His voice started to raise again before I shushed him. "You have to tell me everything," Mingi dragged me to the couch.

I told him a majority of everything and he grinned like an idiot the whole time.

"Oh my gosh you really did it. I'm so proud!" Mingi cheered one more time.

"Thank you Mings, really. I told you to give up yet you were really determined to get us together."

"Yeah your welcome. Just remember that every time you're happy with him. Also be ready for when I get you back for that prank seriously you’re sick."

"I'm sorry I saw the opportunity to attack," I cackled.

We went to our rooms so we could wake up early tomorrow to finish packing. I land on my bed and open up my phone to see a text from Hongjoong.

Hongjoong: _I had fun tonight ;) can i see you tomorrow before we leave campus?_

Yunho: _So did i thank you for everything and i would love that -w-_

Hongjoong: _alrighty just text me when. goodnight <3_

Yunho: _goodnight <3 <3_

I turn off my phones and look up to my ceiling. We sent hearts to each other. My younger me would be so disgusted that I actually started dating. I covered my face before I started blushing. I thought about all the things I want to do with him. I want to make him as happy as he can be. If we're together I can finally show honest emotions with him. I turned to the beret he bought me and smiled. I really was whipped for him. I closed my eyes so I could fall asleep as soon as possible.

Sunday 10:31 a.m.

Mingi and I were packing so fast it was chaos. We were really good at waiting for the last minute. Hongjoong and I made plans for lunch before heading out. I hope we don't live too far away. I have to see him during break. We heard a knock at the door and froze in shock. I never told Hongjoong our address so it can't be him. I open the door and Seonghwa starts shaking me.

"Neither of you texted me what happened last night!"

"Oh whoops sorry Seonghwa." I shrugged guilty.

"Well?"

"Oh right! Yeah we're together no big deal." I acted like it was nothing.

"THANK GOD FINALLY! My bro's got a boyfriend!"

I invited Seonghwa in as he offered to help pack and to listen to what happened last night. We finally finished an hour later and I got ready for my... date? I couldn't tell whether it was a first date or just a hang out. Was last night our first date because it was a confession? I didn't care whether it was considered a date or not as long as I got to see him. I finished getting ready and left the apartments. We decided to go out for sandwiches that were only two blocks away from my place. I pulled into the parking lot and saw Hongjoong’s head poke out from behind his car. He happily waved at me from afar as I got out. He ran in for a hug and I was almost sent flying back. He looked up at me during the hug and I couldn't help but blush. His nose was scrunched up with his rosy cheeks. I really was living a dream.

"You ready?" Hongjoong asked, taking my hands.

I simply nodded and we walked in proudly holding hands. I was a little nervous for judgment but I was happy being with him so why should it matter? We ordered our food together and Hongjoong dragged me to a booth near a window. We always get window seats I realized. Maybe it's just our thing now to always get window seats. Our names were called up and we grabbed our sandwiches and shakes.

"Are you excited for break? I hope we're close by each other so then we wouldn't have school in our way," Hongjoong stared at me.

"We need to exchange addresses don't we? I'm sure even if we are far away, we'll manage. Did you sleep well?"

"Of course! I had to in order for today to come faster."

"Gosh are couples supposed to be this cheesy?" I snickered.

I mean… I wasn't complaining. Just teasing.

"I believe so Yunho," Hongjoong smiled and tapped whipped cream onto my nose.

"Ahh geez you're causing a scene," I wiped it off and we both laughed.

The date felt like any other hangout we had in the past just more flirting and teasing. I've never flirted before so I made it purposely more cringy. I will say we got comfortable to this new behavior fairly quickly. I feared it would be awkward at first given we both confessed but I was happy to be wrong. The rest of the date was filled with soft laughter and happy thoughts only. An hour passed and we figured we had to leave campus soon. We wrote down each other's addresses and we were only a few miles apart so seeing each other was no concern. I was told I couldn't go to his place because of his family and I decided not to pry on the subject yet. We hugged goodbye and while I had him around my arms I kissed him on the head. I was amazed at myself for acting like this but I had to get used to it soon. Hongjoong gasped and let go of me. For a second I thought I went too far and almost had a heart attack until I saw him grinning like an idiot.

"You sure you've never dated?" Hongjoong questioned jokingly.

"Yep. Single till twenty-one."

Hongjoong took my cheeks and pinched them before walking to his car. Gosh, I really like him.


	16. Chapter 16

Wednesday 11:59 a.m.

It was two days till Christmas and I decided to hang out with my favorite people beforehand. Mingi, being in my neighborhood, was already here and we were waiting on Seonghwa and Hongjoong. This will be Hongjoong’s first time with all three of us. I’m not too worried as he gets along with Seonghwa and I. Mingi is well on his way to becoming his friend. Seonghwa pulled in first and we could finally scream freely without getting in trouble by a landlord. Seonghwa questioned getting out of his car to see us but we dragged him out. After a few more minutes, Hongjoong arrived. This will also be Hongjoong’s first time seeing my family. My family is always welcoming of others so I had no worries. I also told them I had a boyfriend and I haven’t heard them cheer that loudly in a while. I came out to them a little after I told Mingi and I was very lucky to have such a supportive family. Unless they just knew I’d be single for a while and they would take any gender at this point. We entered my place and my mom immediately greeted Seonghwa as always. After hugging him she went straight for Hongjoong. 

“So you’re Hongjoong,” she questioned seriously.

Hongjoong seemed terrified and nodded. 

“You’re so cute! Yunho you picked a good one!” She cheered.

“Mother please,” I begged her to stop.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Jeong,” Hongjoong bowed.

“Awe what a gentleman. You all enjoy your stay,” My mom welcomed and left to the kitchen where my dad was. 

I led them in the living room so we could chat and watch a Christmas movie before the main event. My mom soon came out with food for everyone.

“WAH thanks-” Mingi started to grab for a plate before my mom slapped his hand.

“Guests first,” my mom stared him down.

“I am a guess!”

“Oh please at this point I’m convinced you have a key to the house.”

Mingi tried to argue but was left with a loss for words. My mom happily gave meals to Hongjoong and Seonghwa and left Mingi and me for last.

“Your mom is really the best. I love coming here,” Seonghwa laughed when my mom walked out.

“She caught me off guard at first but I can see where you get your hospitality from,” Hongjoong added.

Mingi kept his mouth shut as he rubbed his injured hand. Sure my family teases Mingi but he knows that they absolutely adore him. Once we finished the movie and eating, it was time. We got our coats and boots on and headed outside. Sure half of us hardly see the light of day and only one of us is really athletic but nonetheless it was time. It was time for a snowball fight. A snowball war. Mingi and I always did this growing up, Seonghwa surprisingly joined us when we met him, and my first hang out with Hongjoong turned into a snowball fight so he’s now in this war.

“Since there’s four of us you know what this means?” Mingi mischievously smiled.

“2 on 2?” Seonghwa smirked right back at him.

Mingi nodded and we followed. Hongjoong and I had a staredown before I walked over to Mingi.

“Hongjoong and I last finished on a draw,” I whispered to Mingi.

Mingi gasped and grabbed my hand to drag me to his side.

“Juniors vs seniors. You can revive your partner. Last team standing wins,” Mingi ordered.

We all gave each other one last glare before running separate ways. Mingi and I, whenever we played with other kids in school, would always end superior. Our technique was the best. We went behind a snow covered bush and began to make ammo. Me handing Mingi the right amount of snow and Mingi making them just the right shape. 

I kept a lookout and made eye contact with Seonghwa. I motioned for Mingi to hand me a ball as I thought he was reachable. I always thought I was good at throwing. I kept my eyes locked as Seonghwa poked his head around the house. Both his hands were on the house and if I could just hit one we’d be golden. I moved my arm into position and threw the snowball. I surprisingly got Seonghwa’s hand and he acted to be hit till Hongjoong came sprinting behind him, tapping his shoulder, and throwing a snowball my way. He rolled into the snow with the throw and the snow just grazed the bush after I ducked. 

“Hongjoong seems to have some skills,” I report to Mingi.

“We’re all set to fight back. I’ll keep an eye on Hwa you gain more intel on Hongjoong.”  
We nod before looking out beyond the bush. Seonghwa was nowhere in sight and Hongjoong was behind the house where Seonghwa was originally at. I crawled over to a nearby tree and stood up. I keep my back against the tree and look over my left shoulder. Mingi started shuffling to another tree and I almost looked away until I saw Seonghwa running at full speed. Seonghwa’s always been the type to hide and then dive into chaos out of nowhere. This does make it easy to hit him but he normally hits us before we could stop him. 

“Mingi, on your left!” I call.

It was too late. Mingi had been hit on the shoulder and fell to the ground and Seonghwa had two more snowballs in his hand. I quickly searched for Hongjoong and he was also running straight for me. I dove into Mingi to tap his arm and I threw one of my snowballs at Seonghwa. I got his leg and he clutched it as he sat on the ground. Mingi sat up and threw one to Hongjoong but he missed. I dragged Mingi up and Hongjoong threw one in-between us. We were both able to curve around it and we started to run. 

“Why do they both dive into the open!?! They’re insane!” Mingi shouted.

Mingi was the only one of us who actually did a sport regardless of his new title of being a hermit. He did track and cross country growing up so even though we were a good team, when it came to running, Mingi was always in the lead. 

“I don’t know but it works!” I reply.

We got behind another set of bushes to catch our breath and fixed our crushed ammo. I kept lookout again and we seemed to have lost them for a bit.

“Yunho we’re going to have to give it our all,” Mingi stated.

“You know what that means,” I reminded him of what he was signing up for.

“We’ve taken down a whole playground, we can take down these two.”

We did our handshake and he ran out. He made it to the house with his back against the wall. I poked my head out from the bush to be the target and Hongjoong was coming this way. He hasn’t been hit once and I couldn’t tell whether that was hot or just luck. I got over myself and threw a snowball at him. He dodged it and started running full speed. The second he made it past Mingi, Mingi came running out and threw a snowball at Hongjoong’s back. Mingi went rolling into the snow just as Hongjoong did earlier and Hongjoong collapsed dramatically. Seonghwa came out from the trees and aimed for Mingi who was still trying to stand up from his fall. I jumped around the bush and dragged Mingi behind me just to barely miss the snowball. I threw the snowball from my opposite hand at him and although it wasn’t my dominant, I managed to get the target. Seonghwa held where I hit him and collapsed to the ground. We did it. We managed to take down the enemy. Mingi and I take a hand and go into a bro hug while aggressively hitting each other’s backs. We cheered as the boy’s rose from the ground.

“We’re just too good Mingi this feels unfair,” I taunted.

“Don’t worry maybe one day you can take us down,” Mingi added.

“Yeah yeah, whatever that was straight up luck,” Seonghwa argued as he brushed off the snow. “Our team is still superior Hongjoong.”

“Yeah that was one match, we can’t judge who’s the best yet,” Hongjoong said as he stood up.

“Round 2?” I suggested.

Everyone shouted for a rematch so we began our eternal war of Yungi vs Honghwa.

Hongjoong and Seonghwa managed to win the next round so we had our tiebreaker for the day. Mingi and I grabbed our second and final win just barely. We were all out of breath and cold so we decided to sit for a moment. After our small break, we went into the last game of the day which was every man for himself. Our great team bonds were broken and it was full out war and chaos. I managed to get Seonghwa in the back as he was aiming for Hongjoong. Hongjoong dodges Seonghwa’s throw and starts bolting to the right. Seonghwa falls and whines.

“Well, this ain’t right,” he complained.

I run off so my location isn’t given. I hear screaming on the other side of the house but I don’t go to check it out. I gather ammo for when someone comes for me. Seonghwa sits up and just looks around helplessly. I don’t blame him for sitting up as we are sitting in freezing, stiff snow. I ran past Seonghwa and he pressured me by saying I was carrying him and I needed to win. I go around the house, hiding by trees to see who was hit. I spot Hongjoong lying in the snow and Mingi was missing. I peered to my right and saw Mingi was going through the trees. So my fellow teammate, my best friend, it has come down to this. He took out my man. I had to avenge Hongjoong and win for Seonghwa. We both come out at the same time and throw a snowball. I got him directly in the stomach and I dropped to the ground to miss his arm shot. Mingi falls back. I cheered at my victory. 

“And tonight’s champion is Jeong Yunho!” I stood up with both arms in the air. Mingi stood up, giving me a jealous clap. 

I walk over to Hongjoong and help him up.

“I won,” I quietly reminded him.

“That’s my man’s,” Hongjoong nodded in approval.

Seonghwa met us around the house and we all ran inside. We quickly got into warmer clothes and huddled around the fire. Hongjoong and I shared a big blanket while Seonghwa and Mingi got their own.

“Gosh, we really are five. Who is still having snowball fights with each other?” Seonghwa laughed.

“Cool people. Seonghwa. Like us,” Mingi sounded insulted.

We all laughed and sat around in silence. I feel Hongjoong’s hand cover my hand closest to him and I couldn’t help but smile. Neither of us get super touchy in front of the others unless it’s to really bother them. We still have yet to have our first kiss but we give each other pecks on the head and cheeks. It was nice to know I have someone I can hold onto. It was comforting.

After a few more hours together and having dinner, everyone started to head home. Mingi and Seonghwa left first and Hongjoong was last to head out.

“Thank you for letting me hang out with you guys,” Hongjoong smiled and looked down.

“Well of course you’re our friend and my boyfriend. You’re in our gang now so you do everything with us.”

“I’m glad,” Hongjoong glanced back up.

I pulled him into a hug and he latched on. Hongjoong still has yet to tell me stuff but he made it sound like he’s only ever had acquaintances or temporary friends. I’ll make that change. I’d give him the whole world if I could. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and went to his car. I waved him off and went back inside. Hongjoong was coming back tomorrow but we didn’t try to ask about staying the night. I didn’t want to know my family’s reaction especially since they haven’t properly met him yet and his family doesn’t know we are together yet. I wasn’t bothered by them not knowing so I let it slide. 

“I can’t wait to talk to Hongjoong tomorrow. He seems like he’ll be nice,” my mom said as I walked through the door.

Hongjoong was coming over for breakfast in the morning before our date. I had no fear in my mind of it going bad. My family was accepting of everyone so there should be no problem. I headed off to my room and passed out right when I hit the bed.


	17. Chapter 17

Thursday 9:15 a.m.

I helped my mom set the table before Hongjoong arrived. Hongjoong would be here around 9:30 and most of the food was done so there was no rush. My mom had a nice Christmas dress on and my dad wore his casual attire. My mom always gets excited about things like this while my dad stays as calm. My dad isn’t very expressive but still a very sweet guy. I heard the doorbell go off and I rushed over to the door.

“Hongjoong!” I cheered as I motion for him to come in.

He had a black turtle neck on with a blue sweater over it.

“I’m not too late am I?” Hongjoong asked nervously.

“You’re fine. My mother is practically bouncing in her seat so we should head in.”

Hongjoong and I enter the kitchen and Hongjoong stops to take a bow. My parents lightly dipped their heads back to him.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Hongjoong. Tell me what you’d like to eat and find yourself a seat,” My mom offered.

Hongjoong sat across from my father while I sat next to him. My mom served out all the plates and finally came to sit down.

“So I heard you two are visiting a grandma near campus?” My mom started the question.

That was our plan for the day. I would teach Hongjoong how to bake and then head over to granny with cookies.

“Yep! I don’t know her too well but Yunho has said good things about her so we decided to visit.”

“Awe I’m sure she’d enjoy that.”

There were a few silent moments of waiting for questions to roll in but besides that, it all went very smoothly. My dad was starting to speak up when he got more comfortable.

“If I may ask how come your family can’t know about you two dating?” My dad questioned.

“Ah yes. They don’t exactly like the fact I like guys and feel very strongly about me dating a girl,” Hongjoong went serious.

I figured that was the reason why he didn’t tell them or one of the reasons why they didn't get along. I just didn’t want to ask him. I grabbed his hand under the table to support him.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Just know you’re welcomed here,” my dad comforted him.

Hongjoong’s grip got stronger on me and it looked like his eyes were watering up a bit.

“Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Jeong. You all seem like wonderful people.”

After a few more tamer questions, we finished our breakfast and my parents left the room for us to start baking.

“They both are so nice,” Hongjoong looked down at the table.

“They care about you Hongjoong,” I rubbed his back. “I’m sorry if his question went a bit too far.”

“No no, it’s okay they have a right to know. It’s just nice to know how supportive they are. I really didn’t expect that response.”

I gave him a minute to take a breath and he sat up.

“Alright, it’s time to get cooking.”

“Baking,” I corrected.

“Right!”

Hongjoong admitted to never cooking or baking before and that the best he could make was a sandwich. I got all our supplies out and Hongjoong bounced up and down in excitement. We were going to make chocolate chip cookies for all of us to share but they were mostly for her. She doesn’t know we are coming today but I’ve been there once so I know the address. I put in all the dry ingredients and when my hands were covered in flour I put my hands on Hongjoong’s face. Hongjoong screamed and took a pinch of flour and threw it at me. I couldn’t help but laugh and Hongjoong joined in. After I added most of the ingredients, I left the eggs for Hongjoong.

“Why did you leave the messiest job for me!” I whined.

“Anyone can pour sugar into a bowl!” I laughed at him.

He cracked the egg and got one half of the shell into the bowl. It was still in one piece so we could easily take it out. He went to crack the second egg and I took his hand so I could show him the right force. Okay so I was trying to be cute like all romance movies but it really is effective at cracking an egg. He cheered when no shell fell in. I also left the job of stirring for him. He accidentally stirred too fast and got some to leave the bowl. He looked like he was about to panic until I started cackling. I showed him the right speed to stir and he did a better job while I cleaned up his mess.

“No, I should be cleaning, I made the mess!”

“You already know how to clean so just keep stirring. You made me ice skate so you must bake.”

Hongjoong rolled his eyes and continued to stir. After teaching him how to stir correctly, he actually did a good job. We finished rolling them all up into balls and threw them into the oven. Hongjoong took a seat in the kitchen and I grabbed some games we could play. We got through a few games of cards before the cookies were done.

“Yahh they smell so good. You don’t think she’d notice if some were missing right?” Hongjoong questioned as he reached out for one.

I lightly smacked his hand out of the way and began to move the cookies to a Christmas plate so we could wrap it up and be on our way.

“See you two tonight!” I called out to my parents as we walked out.

“It was a pleasure to meet you!” Hongjoong added.

Hongjoong offered to drive and I agreed. We got into his car that was slightly intimidating to me. He turned on the radio while he pulled out and suggested I could choose a channel. I found one playing all the most popular hits at the moment and the carpool karaoke began. Hongjoong, while still keeping his eyes on the road, would rap out all the lyrics with ease and sing beautifully the next. It was nice to hear his voice and I was surprised he was so good. He complimented my singing and I was shocked but I made it seem like I wasn’t. I looked over to Hongjoong while he was concentrating on the road and just appreciated his looks for a moment. Ok, so I’m whipped for him, sue me. We arrived at her house after about half an hour of driving. Hongjoong carried the plate of cookies as I knocked at the door. It took only a couple of seconds before she opened the door wearing a big smile on her face.

“Boys! Please come in, come in!” She gestured.

We took a seat in her living room and presented the cookies.

“Aww you two are so sweet! What a nice surprise,” she laughed.

“Did you really think I wasn’t going to visit you at all during break?” I asked.

“Oh I had a small feeling but a lot of kids like you act like they’ll visit and yet never show,”

“Well we’re your favorite kids so we had to come in.”

“Of course you are. Hongjoong how are you, sweetie?”

“I’ve been really good granny. I’m glad I could meet you before break started.”

“I am too!” she cheered.

“Granny, we have some news for you,” I came in.

Hongjoong looked at me and smiled. I took his hand and we locked our fingers together. Before I could say the obvious, if holding hands wasn’t enough of a hint, she gasped and started clapping.

“Oh, this is wonderful news! Yunho I told you you would find someone!”

We both laughed at her joy.

“You did say we’d look cute together,” I added.

She nodded proudly. I took the plastic wrap off the plate so she could try the cookies. She happily ate them and complemented our skills.

“I can tell it was made with love,” She stated in between bites.

“Thank you we tried our best,” Hongjoong spoke up.

After listening to a few of Granny’s stories she offered to make us lunch. We said she didn’t have to but she insisted since she was making her own. She made us sandwiches and put out some fruit that we could eat. The rest of the day was full of storytelling about us as kids and granny when she was first getting out into the world on her own. It was very interesting to listen to both of their pasts. Hongjoong sounded like he had a happy childhood but didn’t have much to say after middle school.

It started to get dark out and granny’s husband would be coming home soon so we said goodbye. We thought about when we could visit again which would be around the end of break. The car ride was much quieter this time around as both of us were slightly tired.

“Yunho you can sleep if you want to. You being here is enough company,” Hongjoong offered.

“I’m not falling asleep, I wanna see the lights at night time,” I excused myself.

So I ended up falling asleep. Screw being a passenger in a nice car. How could I not fall asleep? Good heating, comfy seats, nice and quiet. I’m not putting down my own car. My car is a blessing. I’m just saying I don’t think my car is that easy to sleep in.

“You fell asleep,” Hongjoong teased.

“Yeah, I got that,” I responded and Hongjoong laughed. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I told you you could sleep why would I wake you up!?!” Hongjoong continued to laugh. “You were only out for a couple of minutes and you were cute. I couldn’t bother you.”

“Oh please, I look like a train wreck when I sleep.”

“Maybe I’m just a poor judge because I also look awful. But I still think I’m right,” he smiled.

We spoke for the rest of the ride and I would point out the houses with super nice lights. We would ‘oo’ and ‘ah’ in amazement. We eventually arrived at my house and Hongjoong had to leave. I got out of the car and met him at his window.

“Have a Merry Christmas Hongjoong,” I smiled at him.

His eyes were doing that thing again where I couldn’t look away from him. He smiled back and I couldn’t help but look at his lips as well. They seem so soft. I panicked at my own thoughts but Hongjoong spoke up so it left my mind.

“Merry Christmas Yunho,” He said back and kissed my forehead.

He started to back out and drive off. I didn’t know when he’d be back but I already wanted him to turn around and come inside. I quietly entered my house and my mom yelled at me to go to my room before I saw presents.

“Gosh the audacity. Didn’t even knock on the door,” my mom grumbled.

“Sorry,” I snickered. “Good night mom!”

She said goodnight back as I entered my room. Most of my stuff was unpacked from school but there were still full boxes that almost made me tripped going to my bed. I checked my phone for when Hongjoong gets home safely. I see a text from Mingi that was sent two minutes ago.

Mingi: _so did yall have your first kiss yet? OwO_

Yunho: _Did you see us pull in? You creep_

Mingi: _i saw lights slow down near our houses so i got curious how dare you think that of me -w-_

Yunho: _Ahh my apologies and for your information no we didnt we just started dating less than a week ago why are you moving so fast?_

Mingi: _i cant help it im excitedddddd_

Yunho: _Well at the moment we seem to be doing just fine with head and cheek kisses uwu_

Mingi: _ughhhhh I GUESS that will suffice for now DONT MAKE ME HAVE TO SET UP YOUR FIRST KISS DATE!_

Yunho: _Oh please Mingi no your plans are exhausting. Just rest up for Christmas tomorrow okay dont stay up all night on your theories._

Mingi: _now that you say it it is tempting but fiiiine_

I close out of our chat and see Hongjoong texted me saying he got home. I could finally sleep peacefully knowing he got home. Now I can think about when to see him again.


	18. Chapter 18

Sunday 5:28 p.m.

Christmas was amazing when I got to have all my friends over the next day to celebrate. We all had our gifts and loved every single one of them.

Soon the new year came along and I didn't kiss him on the countdown but it was certainly a great time being with all my friends. Hongjoong finally is comfortable with everyone and group hangouts are even more as chaotic as they were before. 

It was now the first Sunday of the New Year and I convinced my family to have Hongjoong stay the night. I don't know how I managed, maybe because they see me as too innocent to do anything… they wouldn't be wrong. Hongjoong and I were planning on going out to eat and then to the park in town. I saw Hongjoong pulling in and bolted out the door. Once he got out, he ran as fast as I did and latched onto me while I caught him. I spun him in a circle and let him catch himself on the ground.

"How'd you convince them to stay the night?" I asked happily.

"Honestly I'm shocked I've gotten away with seeing you this much and with them not questioning if I'm dating someone. I just said one of my friends was having a hard time and needed company."

"Nice," I nodded in approval.

Once we got Hongjoong's stuff inside we headed over to the restaurant near the park. It was the fanciest place we've been too yet. Okay so it was still a casual restaurant but we're in college, we've got bills to pay! 

We finished dinner and quickly got over to the park. Sure, dinners are nice but we both wanted to see the lights before they were taken down. With it still being winter, the sun was already starting to set. We walked around the whole park holding hands and catching up on the few days we missed each other. Hongjoong got distracted by a clothing store we passed and insisted we go in. I, of course, said yes and he went sprinting for the door and not letting a finger let go of my hand. It was nice to see this side of him. When I first met him he acted all tough and cool yet sweet and humble. I suppose that's the front he puts onto others when really he's just a precious bean who needs protected. 

Hongjoong tried on some outfits and eventually made me try a few things myself. It was fun clowning each other one minute and acting like we were models the next. We both ended up buying an outfit and had to take a trip back to the car so we wouldn't have to carry it the whole time. We walked around for about an hour and I'm shocked we lasted so long but I guess when you like someone you're not really phased. We found a nearby bench and sat down for a moment. Trees were still covered in lights and surrounded the whole area we were in.

"Please don't hit me with snow this time," I begged Hongjoong.

"Well I wasn't gonna but now that sounds like a challenge," Hongjoong raised his eyebrows and started picking up snow.

"Noo!" I whined and moved his hand away from the snow.

"Awe, you're so cute!" Hongjoong laughed.

"Shut up," I rolled my eyes.

We went silent for a moment and just looked at our surroundings. It was nice and quiet with the wind being the loudest noise. Snow was still coming down which would delicately land in our hair. I couldn't help but smile at the complete comfort I was in. I looked over to Hongjoong who was looking up at the snow fall. His pink hair with tiny little snowflakes really just made me fall for him more. Our hands were laced together and Hongjoong's thumb was rubbing mine. I look back out and close my eyes to just experience the coldness on my face. Once I finally opened my eyes again I saw Hongjoong was looking at me this time. It felt strange to think that someone's eyes could be for me only. It felt surreal.

Hongjoong rose to his feet and stood in front of me. I looked at him in the eye and his eyes seemed different. They had a different spark to them. It felt more connecting and confident than any other time. Even though I was still sitting and he was standing up, our faces managed to get super close. I subconsciously looked down at his lips and couldn't look away. I wanted to kiss him so badly but I didn't know if he was ready or if I'd be good enough. As my thoughts raced and my heart sped up, I felt his lips come onto mine. The first second I was left in shock but realized it was actually happening. I kissed back and I felt as if all my pressure was lifted. His soft lips pushing hard but delicate at the same time. I felt his hands thread through some of my hair and I had to try my hardest not to smile. I wasn't sure where to put my hands at first but I decided to put them on his waist. The kiss didn't last too long so I could catch my breath. Our foreheads were pressed together and we both softly laughed in euphoria. We looked at each other without moving and began to laugh more.

"I'm so glad you came into the café that day," I admit.

"I am too," Hongjoong smiled.

Hongjoong dove into another short kiss after his reply. It wasn't as long as the first but it felt just as amazing. Hongjoong eventually dragged me up from the bench and pecked me on the lips one last time before we started walking off. 

"Was that your first kiss?" Hongjoong asked.

"Yeah, why?" I said in fear.

"You did good that's all," Hongjoong looked up at me and then back to the path. 

I felt proud of myself as it didn't sound like he was lying. It was definitely worth the wait to kiss him.

We arrived back at my place and didn't say a word about the kiss to my parents. Who knew if they would send Hongjoong home or not. We walked into my room and Hongjoong smiled.

"It's cute! Very cozy looking.

"Thank you. I still have stuff I never unpacked but what can ya do?" I shrugged.

I offered Hongjoong my shower so he could warm up faster and he took the opportunity. I looked at my phone and spun in my rolly chair while I waited. Hongjoong finally came out with his hair slicked back and still managed to look attractive. Really the guy is impossible. I quickly took a shower myself and came back. I landed on my bed and Hongjoong took a seat on the ground.

"What are you doing?" I questioned him.

"I figured I would sleep here tonight."

"Is this your way of just trying to hear me say get in bed? You're not sleeping on the floor are you crazy?"

"I mean if you insist," Hongjoong acted.

I moved over to make room for him and we were face to face again.

"Yunho this is pretty gay of you," Hongjoong played.

I gasped. "Oh no! Oh what a shame." We both laughed.

I turned off the lamp to the side of my bed and looked back at Hongjoong. Hongjoong wrapped his arm around my waist and came closer in.

"Is this okay?" Hongjoong asked.

"I think it's more than okay," I cupped the side of his face with my hand. 

Hongjoong wrapped his whole body around me and pressed the side of his head to my chest. I had an arm and leg going over him and it was nice and warm. This really is everything I could ever ask for. Hongjoong and I spoke quietly to each other with sweet and comforting words. Hongjoong yawned and began to slur a bit.

"Go to sleep Hongjoong,” I whispered as I rubbed his back. “I'll be right here when you wake up." 

"Thank you for being my dazzling light," Hongjoong mumbled just before dozing off.

I couldn't help but smile at his words. I strengthened my grip on him. I'll never let him go into the darkness again. Not without me by his side.

I wake up to the sun shining directly in my eyes. I move myself to where I can shield my eyes and look down to Hongjoong. Hongjoong looked up at me once I moved.

"Good morning!" He beamed.

"Good morning," I smile at him. "Have you been up long?"

"No no I got up just a minute ago."

I hummed, still trying to wake up. We both sat up and laid back on my headboard. Hongjoong's head sat on my shoulder and I put my head on his. We still covered ourselves with the sheets from the cold. I got curious whether he remembered what he said last night so I had to ask.

"I remember. It wasn't a mistake either. I've lost my connection to my parents and you already know I've never had a close set of friends. So you're the light at the end of a dark tunnel for me," Hongjoong spoke softly as he looked out the window.

"You deserve everyone's love and I can't understand why you don't have more of it."

"I used to be a favorite in my family if I must admit. Everyone got excited to see me, my parents were the only friends I needed, and everything was perfect. It was all after I came out when they saw me as a disgusting human. They stopped treating me like their son until we were out in public. The only reason they've kept me around is because they're wealthy and just want to pay off my college fees."

Hongjoong was finally speaking up about his family and I was proud that he could do it.

"They shouldn't have left you like that because of sexuality. It doesn't define a person's personality. You did nothing to deserve that treatment."

"I thought I did for a while. I got scolded so much I thought I was a criminal. It was when I got older and found out for myself they were wrong."

"I'm glad you did. You're so strong."

Hongjoong softly laughed. "Thank you" 

"I'm sorry I started the morning like th-"

"This is the perfect morning. I get to spend it next to you," Hongjoong interrupted my apology. "You had to hear my story one day and you deserve more details to why I get nightmares. I know I could have it much worse but it still hurts a lot." 

I wrapped an arm around Hongjoong's back and hugged him. He didn't fight it so I stayed like that till he was ready.

"All my other boyfriends never showed affection like this. They were only in it for the sex or popularity. Soon enough they would get tired of me," Hongjoong sadly laughed.

I already knew he had previous boyfriends and it didn't bother me as we were in college. It was no surprise.

"I won't get tired of you. Even if something did happen to us… I would hope we stay friends." 

"I know. You're different. Thank you Yunho." 

Hongjoong squeezed tighter on the hug and we stayed silent for a moment. Hongjoong loosened out and pecked me on the lips before standing up. I got up with him and we headed out into the kitchen.

"Your house has the best natural light. Is this even legal?" Hongjoong asked, looking around our house with the sun showing through the curtains.

"It's because you're here." I pinched his side's from behind as I passed him.

I started to make us both coffee while Hongjoong took a seat at the table.

"How long did it take you to make good coffee?" Hongjoong asked.

"It took a few tries but I managed." 

I felt arms wrap around my waist from behind while I leaned on the counter. I put a hand on his hand and continued to make the coffee no problem. I would tease him by threatening to throw powders at him and he would jump around while still holding on. Our drinks finished and my dad came out as soon as we sat down.

"Good morning boys. Sleep well?" He asked as he pulled out cereal from the cabinets. 

"Yup! Thank you again for letting me stay over," Hongjoong replied.

"It was nothing. I'm shocked Mingi didn't come in last night. You never know what that kid will do." 

We both snickered as he left the kitchen. A few minutes passed and we made breakfast as I continued to teach Hongjoong. He almost burnt me with a skillet but that's besides the point because the food tasted great. Hongjoong and I laughed at each other the rest of the morning. 

Sadly, our morning came to an end and Hongjoong had to go home. This would probably be the last time we see each other till we get back to school so we were both pretty upset.

"One week. We can make it. You can always call me and when we get back to campus we can go on all the fun dates we want to go on," I told him as I escorted him to his car.

"One week," Hongjoong repeated with a nod.

We gave each other our final kiss goodbye and I watched him drive away till he was out of sight.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: mentions of slight blood and violence
> 
> This will lead into the sequel coming soon. If you wish not to read, then the 18th chapter was the finale.

Sunday 10:19 p.m.

Mingi and I had just finished unpacking all of our things back into our apartment and we both collapsed to the floor.

“Why do we do the same thing every winter and summer break where we pack up almost everything and then get a full workout unpacking?” Mingi groaned.

“We never consider it until the last minute of packing,” I replied.

“Has Hwa and Joong arrived yet?”

“Yeah and they finished packing several hours ago.”

“I mean to be fair we did get here a bit late,” Mingi tried making our situation sound better. “Do you have work to-”

“No no Mingi please. Please stop right there,” I wailed at the thought of getting back up.

“But you get to see Hongjoong!” Mingi tried to get me excited.

“His parents just had to steal him on the last week of break for vacation. Taking him from me like that, how rude.”

Mingi laughed at me and I threw my arm onto his stomach making him wheeze all his air out. I started chuckling as laying on my back messed up my laugh. We both started laughing at each other’s laugh and at this point we were completely delirious. Unpacking wasn’t all we had to do today. We had already started late to the day so everything felt like we were going a mile a minute. We had to go to stores to get our food for the week because we forgot to do it the day before, pick up our books for the new school year, and talk to the landlord about payments for the rest of the year. All of that, plus unpacking, had left us to these limp bodies of ours just laughing. Our laughter eventually subsided and we laid there in silence.

“I don’t think I could make it to my bed if I even tried,” Mingi said.

“Eh you sleep in the living room half of the time anyways.”

“Alright sir no need to come for me like that,” Mingi flipped over to his stomach and pushed himself up to his knees.

“Good job! That’s the biggest step you had to make was getting up!”

Mingi fully stood up and went over to my legs. He grabbed my ankle’s and started dragging me to my room.

“Mingi!” I screamed as I tried to slap his hands away.

He managed to get me inside my room and immediately let go of my legs when we arrived.

“You have work, you need to sleep on a bed,” Mingi explained.

I used my bed as leverage for me and I got up to my bed.

“Awe look at you looking out for me. I’m touched,” I put a hand over my heart.

“Eh whatever. If I didn’t get up you would’ve done the same to me. At least we don’t start school till Tuesday! Think on the brightside.”

“Hmm I guess. Good night Mingi,” I saluted as I got under my covers.

“Night!” Mingi called as he shut the door.

I couldn’t help myself and had to check my phone before going to sleep. I saw several notifications and deleted them all till I got to Hongjoong’s.

Hongjoong: _cant wait to see you tomorrow! rest up for me owu_

Yunho: Just finished evrythng for theday going to sleep niw

I didn’t realize all of my typos until I sent it out. Google translate really gave up on me when I needed it.

Hongjoong: _oh the typosss lolol sleep well!_

Yunho: _Dont bully meee good night_

I plugged in my phone and dozed off in the span of seconds.

Monday 6:30 a.m.

Getting a full 8 hours of sleep really does energize you. Who would've thought. I looked out my window to see a majority of the snow had melted. I head out to the kitchen while checking my phone. No messages from Hongjoong which was understandable as it was not even 7 yet. I set my phone down and prepared a nice breakfast. My mom did a majority of breakfast meals so it was nice to be back in the kitchen myself. I finished my breakfast and took my time eating. I got dressed into my uniform and gave myself finger guns in the mirror. I quietly left the building and got into my car. My dad recommended I got a new car as this one looked like it was on its last legs but I politely declined. The car ran just fine with a few issues so I'm keeping her. It took my car a moment to start up but it managed.

I drove off and passed by the mental hospital. The same boy that waved at me last time was waving again today. I still couldn't get a good look at him but I saw a glimpse of silver hair. I waved back and he was dragged out of the room. I tried not to think too hard on it so I kept driving. I continued on with my peaceful drive with hardly any traffic. The park was packed since it wasn't too terribly cold. Friends reuniting with each other, couples on dates, everyone looked happy to be back. I made it to work and got there the same time as Seonghwa.

"My last semester working here as a student…" Seonghwa sighed which sounded relieved.

"Noo Hwa you can't leave meee," I cried.

"I told you I was staying till I find a job but I can't promise I won't find one right away," he shrugged.

Seonghwa opened the door and let me in first. We clocked in and we took our regular positions. I wish Seonghwa worked up front more but the only time we need two people is when it gets super busy. I cleaned everything around me when I wasn't busy with a customer. Hongjoong always came at random times so I was left wondering when he'd come in. This would be the first time he visits me as a couple and I wanted to have my break with him so he'd better come soon.

I snuck out my phone every now and again to see if I missed a text from him. I fixed my schedule so I could give Hongjoong the weekend with me. I hope he didn't think I was off today as I used to have Mondays off. It was only 10:30 so he still had time to get here before my break. Everyone had already had there's and once this employee gets back it'll be my turn. I watched out the window for any sign of him or his car. Normally I'm not this antsy to see him but it's been a week and I wanted him.

I went to text him saying I worked today until I finally saw his car pull up in the parking lot. I saw his pink head come out of the car and he started walking over. My heart started to race and I was practically jumping. Hongjoong made it up to the sidewalk from the side of the café and was making his way to the door. I brought my arm over my head and waved excitedly. Hongjoong stopped and raised his arm just as high to wave back.

As he was bringing back down I saw something running straight for him and it pressed him against the window. Everything was happening so fast so I couldn’t catch every detail. It was a man with torn, bloodied up clothes. He looked sick. He bit into Hongjoong's arm and Hongjoong screamed at the top of his lungs. A whole crowd of people came up and started throwing themselves onto one another. I was left frozen. I wanted to run out and stop it but I couldn't move. I heard a ringing in my ear and my hand that had just waved at him a second ago fell to my side. Just a second ago it was just us and now I was witnessing Hongjoong get tackled by these people. No. They weren't people. They weren't human. Hongjoong, still pressed to the window, started sliding onto the ground and all I could look at was his pained, fear-ridden eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my story and I hope you enjoyed! I wrote this to test out other genres from what I normally write and I had a great time. I will try to have the sequel in as soon as possible. The sequel will be, as you could guess, in a post-apocalypse world. Thank you again I hope you have a wonderful day! <3


End file.
